Nov. 7, 2009
BOOK REVIEW: 'CIA World Factbook 2010' Is the Ultimate Reference Guide to Every Country
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
A good friend of mine chided me a couple of years ago when I mentioned I was going to buy the latest edition of the "World Almanac and Book of Facts," something I do almost every fall when the new edition comes out. He said all the information is available on the Internet.
I told him I got into the habit of having a reference guide on my desk as a newspaper reporter and editor on five dailies and I wasn't about to quit now. The "World Almanac" is an essential reference book, along with a dictionary, a good book of quotations, a thesaurus, atlases, etc. More often than not, it's faster to access a printed page than the Internet.
For those who are similarly stubborn about having a printed reference book close at hand, I recommend another one:
"The CIA World Factbook 2010" (Skyhorse Publishing, 904 pages, $14.95).
Yes, it has the same content as the ones used by the folks in McLean, VA at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, which celebrates its 63rd anniversary next year. The Skyhorse edition lacks the official seal of the one used by CIA employees, because the seal is not in the public domain. The "Factbook" is in the public domain, so the enterprising folks at Skyhorse -- and no publisher I know of is more enterprising -- decided to make it available to the general public. This is timely, because the CIA decided to stop printing the "Factbook" in 2008, directing inquiries to the online version.
I'm guessing that copies of the "Factbook" are in the hands of just about everybody in Congress, the State Department and many other people, simply because it's the most comprehensive one volume guide to every imaginable nation in the world.
Each of the world's nations -- as well as the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans -- is profiled with a historical introduction and analyzed in a user-friendly manner, with every imaginable statistic listed. You'll learn about the type of government, the area of the country -- in the metric system, more about that later-- the population, religions practiced, ethnic makeup, etc., etc.
There are maps in the "Factbook" that won't make you throw out your atlas (Yes, I have a number of them, too), but will be helpful.
Other features:
• Details on prominent political parties, and contact information for diplomatic consultation.
• A full description of the population of each country, with information on literacy rates, HIV prevalence, and age structure.
• A complete economic overview from household income to Gross Domestic Product.
• Information on transportation and communication infrastructure.
• New data on military expenditures and capabilities.
• User-friendly headings, sub-headings, an index, and a list of physical coordinates of major places for easy reading.
There are also appendices offering useful abbreviations, a list of international organizations and groups, international environmental agreements, the conversion of weights and measures, and more. Originally intended for use by government officials, this useful reference guide is a must for every student, traveler, journalist, and businessperson.
About the use of the metric system, there's a note at the end of the book stating that only the U.S., Liberia and Burma still use the English system. The metric system -- meters, kilometers, kilograms, etc. -- is official in the U.S. but, sadly, is not widely used outside the scientific and technology community. It's long overdue that we adopt the system, in my opinion. The conversion tables will help you convert square kilometers to square miles. For instance, Belize has an area of 22,966 square kilometers, or slightly smaller than Massachusetts, as the Factbook says. The World Almanac, in its nations section, gives the size in square miles for Belize at 8,867 square miles -- and also provides the 22,966 figure. By the way, CIA, Belize, where I lived for several months in 2008, also uses the English system, as well as providing metric speed limit and distance numbers on highway signs near Mexico and Guatemala for travelers from those countries who are used to the metric system.
To sum up, this is an important reference book and resides cheek by jowl next to my "World Almanac."
Publisher's web site: www.skyhorsepublishing.com
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BOOK REVIEW: 'CIA World Factbook 2010' Is the Ultimate Reference Guide to Every Country
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
A good friend of mine chided me a couple of years ago when I mentioned I was going to buy the latest edition of the "World Almanac and Book of Facts," something I do almost every fall when the new edition comes out. He said all the information is available on the Internet.
I told him I got into the habit of having a reference guide on my desk as a newspaper reporter and editor on five dailies and I wasn't about to quit now. The "World Almanac" is an essential reference book, along with a dictionary, a good book of quotations, a thesaurus, atlases, etc. More often than not, it's faster to access a printed page than the Internet.
For those who are similarly stubborn about having a printed reference book close at hand, I recommend another one:
"The CIA World Factbook 2010" (Skyhorse Publishing, 904 pages, $14.95).
Yes, it has the same content as the ones used by the folks in McLean, VA at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, which celebrates its 63rd anniversary next year. The Skyhorse edition lacks the official seal of the one used by CIA employees, because the seal is not in the public domain. The "Factbook" is in the public domain, so the enterprising folks at Skyhorse -- and no publisher I know of is more enterprising -- decided to make it available to the general public. This is timely, because the CIA decided to stop printing the "Factbook" in 2008, directing inquiries to the online version.
I'm guessing that copies of the "Factbook" are in the hands of just about everybody in Congress, the State Department and many other people, simply because it's the most comprehensive one volume guide to every imaginable nation in the world.
Each of the world's nations -- as well as the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans -- is profiled with a historical introduction and analyzed in a user-friendly manner, with every imaginable statistic listed. You'll learn about the type of government, the area of the country -- in the metric system, more about that later-- the population, religions practiced, ethnic makeup, etc., etc.
There are maps in the "Factbook" that won't make you throw out your atlas (Yes, I have a number of them, too), but will be helpful.
Other features:
• Details on prominent political parties, and contact information for diplomatic consultation.
• A full description of the population of each country, with information on literacy rates, HIV prevalence, and age structure.
• A complete economic overview from household income to Gross Domestic Product.
• Information on transportation and communication infrastructure.
• New data on military expenditures and capabilities.
• User-friendly headings, sub-headings, an index, and a list of physical coordinates of major places for easy reading.
There are also appendices offering useful abbreviations, a list of international organizations and groups, international environmental agreements, the conversion of weights and measures, and more. Originally intended for use by government officials, this useful reference guide is a must for every student, traveler, journalist, and businessperson.
About the use of the metric system, there's a note at the end of the book stating that only the U.S., Liberia and Burma still use the English system. The metric system -- meters, kilometers, kilograms, etc. -- is official in the U.S. but, sadly, is not widely used outside the scientific and technology community. It's long overdue that we adopt the system, in my opinion. The conversion tables will help you convert square kilometers to square miles. For instance, Belize has an area of 22,966 square kilometers, or slightly smaller than Massachusetts, as the Factbook says. The World Almanac, in its nations section, gives the size in square miles for Belize at 8,867 square miles -- and also provides the 22,966 figure. By the way, CIA, Belize, where I lived for several months in 2008, also uses the English system, as well as providing metric speed limit and distance numbers on highway signs near Mexico and Guatemala for travelers from those countries who are used to the metric system.
To sum up, this is an important reference book and resides cheek by jowl next to my "World Almanac."
Publisher's web site: www.skyhorsepublishing.com
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
