'The Bermuda Atlas', written by Graham Faiella and published by Macmillan Education, is the latest in a series of books produced to quench a thirst for information about Bermuda. The overview of Bermuda's geology, natural history, economy and history, accompanied by clear, colourful graphics, might prove more accessible to primary students than Rosemary Jones' lavish 'Bermuda Five Centuries'; however, there are some disappointing and inexplicable gaps, which renders it of limited value as a reference.

Following a general map of Bermuda, there is a series of pages on Bermuda's geological evolution, relative location, and the influence of the Gulf Stream on Bermuda's climate and flora and fauna. Colour photographs will make identification of the most common of both relatively easy.

In describing Bermuda's agriculture and fishing, the author correctly notes the decline in agriculture in the mid 19th century, but his comment "Portuguese farm labourers on their own (my emphasis) revived Bermuda's economy in the latter stages of the 19th century," ignores Bermudians who developed the commercial exploitation of the Easter lily bulb, first exported to the US commercially in 1883, or the role of tourism in Bermuda's economic development in the latter years of the 1800s. It also ignores the efforts of local businessmen and Members of Colonial Parliament to establish a regular steamship service to North American to enable the marketing of that farm produce and the transportation of tourists to our shores.

The section on the environment and ecology includes maps of the Bermuda National Trust and Bermuda Audubon Society Nature Reserves, though the locations of Government parks and nature reserves, like that of Hog Bay and Cooper's Island, the Botanical Gardens and the Arboretum, are inexplicably missing. There is an interesting series of sidebars on the various threats to Bermuda's biodiversity, particularly to native and endemic species, and the projects being undertaken to preserve them and a useful map of Bermuda's reef reserves and protected areas.

"Society and Community" with a variety of charts and graphs gives a snapshot of the Bermudian population, income, spending habits and travel preferences. The section entitled "The Evolution of Education" surprisingly begins in the 19th century with the statement, "Missionaries from the Methodist church and the Church of England provided the only education for black children in Bermuda just before and after the abolition of slavery."

There follows considerable discussion of the education of black children and the history of Berkeley Institute. Warwick Academy, Bermuda's oldest school, founded in 1665 by Richard Norwood, a mathematician of international stature, is accorded one sentence in the final paragraph, lumped together with other private schools like Saltus Grammar School and the Bermuda High School for Girls. The role of the Dockyard apprenticeship scheme in providing technical training beyond primary level education to Bermudians of both races is omitted. CedarBridge Academy is relegated to a parenthesis, and there is no mention at all of the Bermuda Institute, the Bermuda Technical Institute or the Bermuda College.

While a page and a half of the section on the economy is devoted to tourism, the role of the insurance and reinsurance industry in Bermuda's economic development is limited to one sentence noting the number of employees in "international business" doubling in the decade 1994-2004; one graph comparing local companies and international exempted companies and a section of a pie chart ¿ albeit the largest section ¿ on "Structure and Composition of Bermuda's GDP by Economic Sectors, 2004". It is also included as one of 16 sectors in a series of three pie charts comparing employment by industry in 1970, 2000 and 2005.

An overview of the history of Bermuda is hung on a framework of mapping of Bermuda, illustrated with attractive but poorly presented colour reproductions of maps from different centuries, and concludes with a timeline of significant events. Although it would be impossible to mention every development in Bermuda's history, the selection of what has been included seems rather arbitrary and there are some inexplicable gaps in the account. The origin of the name of Wreck Hill in Sandys is given, and the fact that St. Anne's Church was originally built of cedar in 1626, but the blockade of Bermuda during the American War of Independence, or the sale of 100 barrels of stolen gunpowder to the Continental Congress to raise the blockade is omitted.

Several column inches are devoted to the development of newspapers and magazines, but none at all to the salt and carrying trade of the 18th century or the evolution of the Bermuda sloop that had such a significant impact on the Bermudian economy and psyche. The three-month stay of Tom Moore is described in some detail, but there is no mention at all (not even in the timeline) of the visits of Mark Twain or Princess Louise, who, arguably, had a far more significant impact on the development of the Island than the Irish poet. Neither is there a mention of the Bermudians who served here and abroad during either of the World Wars, nor of the heroines who struggled so long for the enfranchisement of women. The US-UK lend-lease agreement is not placed in the context of a world war, giving the impression that the British Government handed more than Bermudian land to the Americans arbitrarily.

In fact, astonishingly, both the First World War and Second World War have been omitted completely from the timeline. Sadly this account of Bermuda's history ends in 1978 with the riots that followed the hangings of convicted murderers Erskine Durrant Burrows and Larry Tacklyn, leaving almost 30 years of Bermudian history unaccounted for, though the timeline continues until 2006.

A first glance at the atlas led me to type, "While it should make the task of teaching the local social studies curriculum easier, the slim volume should also provide an easy first reference for the general reader." A closer reading, however, forces me to conclude that while there is much that is useful in this publication, it is inconsistent, and, I am sorry to say, this make its usefulness as a reliable reference limited, even suspect, which is such a shame given the time and money that must have been spent on its production.