NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF THE WORLD

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF THE WORLD (National Geographic, $100) An atlas is as indispensable as a dictionary, and often, just as bland. But the minute you turn to a brilliantly colored page in this atlas, you are transported back to that moment in childhood when you first realized that the world was literally at your fingertips. But it's quite a different place these days-there are 15 new countries where the Soviet Union used to be, and Yugoslavia has split into five. To alleviate the confusion, there's an essay that serves as a primer for each map. This atlas harks back to the centuries when maps were considered art, but with a knowledge and understanding that is purely modern. A+ -RAW