Lending valuable insight into the current situation - and the past – National Geographic Atlas of the Middle East is a concise yet comprehensive, easy-to-read volume of newly researched, compiled and updated maps that provide an in-depth look at the political and physical dynamics of the region as well as the driving forces that have led to the violence, religious passion and costly wars there.

In his preface, National Geographic President John Fahey writes, "No other area on Earth provokes such fury and fervor, or cradles so many human aspirations as the Middle East. No other has riveted our attention to its affairs almost daily for more than half a century...The task of this atlas is to help you make sense of this tumultuous region's past, the challenges of its present, and the possibilities of its future."

The atlas comprises three main sections: Nations, Regional Themes and History. The Nations section opens with an overall political map of the region, then devotes a two-page spread to each of the 16 countries and the occupied territories that are featured. From Bahrain to Yemen, each country map shows details such as oil fields, pipelines, airports, roads, settlements and dams, and also includes the flag, area (and area comparison with the United States), population, capital, religion, language, literacy rate, life expectancy, number of active troops, Gross Domestic Product per capita, crude oil reserves and a succinct description of the economy.

City maps of Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Jerusalem and Tehran take readers into the streets for an insight into the heart of the urban landscape. The city maps feature a brief history of the city as well as details of elevation, latitude and longitude, average daily temperatures, average monthly rainfall and time zone.

Technology was well-used in the creation of this book which contains excellent satellite image maps as well as colorful maps and charts on climate, population, religion, ethnic/linguistic groups, oil, water and development indicators. These contain a trove of information on climate types, population growth in the past 50 years (the region is the world's fastest-growing area), migrant and foreign-born populations, Christian, Jewish and Muslim sacred places, religious adherents by political area, main languages in order of number of speakers, oil reserves, global oil consumption, freshwater resources, main imports and exports, poverty rates and foreign-aid donors to the Middle East.

The History section features maps of World Heritage Sites located in the Middle East, ancient Egypt, the Middle East on the eve of World War l and post World War l, the rise of nationalism and regional conflicts from 1945 to 2002, plus a graph on defense spending. Finally, a four-page time line, with photographs, dramatically illustrates the dynamic, often terrifying, modern history of the Middle East, from 1900 through the present, with the current crises in Iraq and Israel.

This is a don’t miss book for the coffee table as well as the book shelf.