Penguin Atlas of African History Colin McEvedy Penguin 1980 pp. 142 [ history, cartography ] The Penguin Atlases of Ancient History, Mediaeval History and Modern History covered nothing except the history of Europe. This offering gives a bit more balance to the series, though I thought perhaps it should have been entitled the Penguin Atlas of Human History, or something like that :-) As with the other books in the series the maps are really well laid out, and will be irresistible to cartophiliacs like myself. The emphasis is definitely on political history, but there are a few maps of population densities and trade routes. The text that accompanies the maps is not bad, but is definitely not up to the same standard. Some of the information is even a little dubious. (For example australopithecines are made into direct ancestors of homo sapiens) There is also a tendency to see things from a European point of view, and I would have preferred a little less detail on the "exploration" of the continent and a little more on cultural history. This is a reference work that should be on everyone's shelves, but it should probably be backed up by a more detailed history of the continent. Danny Yee (danny@cs.su.oz.au) 12/8/92