Atlas of Georgia (review)

Southeastern Geographer Vol. 27, No. 1, May 1987, pp. 64-67 REVIEWS Atlas of Georgia. Thomas A. Hodler and Howard A. Schretter, Editors. Athens: University of Georgia, 1986. 288 pp., maps, tables, diagrams, references, photographs, appendix, and index. $47.50 cloth (ISBN: 0-911847-03-0) Publication of the Atlas of Georgia culminates several years of hard work by many individuals. What they have produced is a volume that graphically displays the physical and cultural aspects of Georgia yesterday , today, and tomorrow. With its many maps, charts, photographs, and illustrations, the atlas contains a wealth of information about the state's history, natural resources, cultural heritage, and economic conditions . Although the atlas is basically a reference volume, the editors hope that the serious reader will find it "to be a source providing new insights and thus leading to a better understanding of Georgia ". The editors have ably fulfilled this objective and should be congratulated on their effort. The Atlas of Georgia is one of the more attractive full color state atlases. While some similarities can be found with previous atlases, the cartographer should be complimented on his innovations in the presentation of numerous types of data. The page layouts are neat and concise and provide an orderly presentation of the information. Especially pleasing is the use of a PMS color, in addition to the four process colors, as a background matte for the maps. This helps to make the maps and graphics stand out from the brief blocks of text that accompany many of the subjects. The text is designed to add additional information and highlight important aspects or unique features. The provision of mylar overlays for county name identification is most helpful and solves the problem of how to name 159 counties and still display other information . Cartographic production is excellent considering the large number of assistants who worked to produce the book. Printing and map registry is for the most part high quality with very attractive endleafs depicting historical maps of Georgia. James R. Anderson, Jr., Florida Resources and Environmental Analysis Center, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306. Vol. XXVII, No. 1 65 The atlas is organized into five major sections with an afterword and appendix. They are titled: Georgia's Setting, Natural Environment, Settlement and Conflict, Economic Patterns, and People and Society. Within each section, the left hand pages contain the section title and each page contains a running head describing the topic on that page. Each section is introduced by a title page and an attractive piece of artwork. The editors have not simply presented Georgia in a vacuum: many of the maps and tables in each section relate Georgia to the Southeast or the United States providing good insight into Georgia's relative position. Georgia's Setting provides an overview of Georgia in relation to the world, the United States, and the Southeast. Attractive maps display Georgia centered in world and hemisphere projections. Additional maps portray world time zones, state populations, Georgia's neighbors, and some selected comparisons between Georgia and other states on such topics as relative area, crime, taxes, personal income, and cost of living. The section concludes with a reference map of Georgia with an index and selected facts about the state. Natural Environment addresses the distribution of landforms, water, soil, climate, vegetation, and wildlife. Especially interesting are pages devoted to barrier island formation, regional physical features, and night sky charts for various times of the year. Color photographs of wildlife and vegetation accompanied by locator maps are also excellent. The next section, Settlement and Conflict, attempts to trace Georgia's historical heritage from the early Indians through the Civil War. The importance of cotton and its evolution to the present day are examined in detail. Several reproductions of early colonial period maps provide an interesting beginning to this section detailing how Georgia appeared to its first European settlers. Several pages are devoted to Georgia's Indian legacy although it appears that additional coverage could have been devoted to this topic. Other interesting topics include land disposition, growth of counties, place names, and round towns. More expansive text descriptions would have been most helpful for several pages in this section, as a...