Book reviews: Saint Lucia Planning Atlas; Suriname Planatlas

A joint review of two Organization of American States atlases in which the Saint Lucia Planning Atlas (1987) is judged "by far the weaker of the two." Gary Brana-Shute describes a 47-page booklet introducing six multi-color maps, each 27 x 44 inches and foldable into a cardboard jacket the size of a standard textbook, drawn with the assistance of the St. Lucia Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries, Co-Operatives and Labour. The maps use transverse Mercator projection at 1:50,000 and are easy to read, with straightforward, informative legends. The booklet, however, offers no bibliography and no narrative or analytical discussion of the island and its population, which the reviewer says diminishes the value of the plates; a reader who starts with little knowledge of St. Lucia may get no more than "a colorful melange." Topical sheets cover geology, rainfall and drainage, life zones, land capability, land use and vegetation, and land distribution and tenure, each marking major settlements, roadways, district boundaries and sites such as airports and industrial parks.