Libkind A.: The Great Soviet World Atlas, Vol. 1

This article is a review of the first volume of the Great Soviet World Atlas, published in 1937. The author notes that the atlas represents the first realization of Lenin's idea from 1921, and its content is based on Marxist-Leninist methodology, comprehensively presenting the physical, economic, and political geography of the world and the USSR. The first volume contains world maps and USSR maps; the second volume is planned to cover survey and economic maps of republics, territories, and regions, while the third will include maps of continents and foreign states. The article analyzes in detail the atlas's maps on imperialism, such as financial dependence, raw material and sales markets, the division of the world, and rivalry among great powers, which vividly reveal contradictions between imperialist states. Simultaneously, the atlas showcases the USSR's significant achievements in socialist construction, including industrial distribution, agricultural collectivization, the northward shift of crop cultivation, and the establishment of new industrial areas. The author emphasizes that the atlas contrasts the capitalist and socialist economic systems, highlighting Soviet progress and capitalist decay. Finally, the author highly praises the atlas as a valuable teaching and reference tool, asserting its superiority over any atlas published in bourgeois countries, while noting minor shortcomings such as overly complex maps and the need to update the administrative-political map.