In a world that seems to be changing so rapidly – indeed changing in ways that often seem entirely out of control and beyond anyone’s ability to comprehend – it is reassuring to have a tangible reminder that someone, somewhere is indeed making a valiant attempt to keep at least some of the larger changes in our world under observation and publishing an annual record of what they have noticed. I mean, of course, the editors and contributors to the Oxford Atlas of the World, now released in its 24th edition.
The only printed atlas to be updated annually, publication of a new Oxford Atlas edition is an occurrence of which notice itself should be taken. In addition to such expected updates to national boundaries, transportation lines, and all the data that have long made regularly updated atlases such invaluable contemporary reference as well as historical research tools, the new 24th edition includes a new opening section on Land and Maritime Boundaries, a World Geography section reviewing climate change, cities, world religions, employment, industry, tourism, and travel, and a fully updated Gazetteer of Nations “focusing on the latest political and economic situation for all independent countries and major dependent territories.”
As I’ve written before, in an age when so much changes so quickly, and information is increasingly at risk of disappearing down the memory hole, a meticulously edited, printed book is proof positive of how things were in a given place and time. If for no other reason than this, the acquisition and retention of this atlas – and the editions that will continue to follow it each year – is essential to the protection of information and the maintenance of one’s own sanity.
