Reviews: The atlas of Britain and Northern Ireland

Andrzej Werwicki reviews The Atlas of Britain and Northern Ireland (Clarendon Press, 1963), a national atlas prepared by Oxford and Cambridge scholars and published privately without state subsidies. He outlines its aim of presenting a balanced mid-century record of Britain’s physical, economic, and social resources, surveys its contents, and examines the demographic section in detail. Several hundred maps occupy nine thematic sections, supplemented by regional sets and general maps. He identifies industry as the most extensive and comprehensive section, although its cartography attracts little interest. The demographic maps use population-proportional circles, continuous for towns and interrupted for rural districts, with colors distinguishing phenomena and their intensity. Despite the absence of a population-density map, he finds this method effective in showing concentrations and internal differences: major centres lose population, immediately adjoining settlements generally remain stable, and more distant towns grow. Towns founded after 1951 receive a special symbol. He criticizes the employment maps for lacking a complete occupational structure and for combining totals for agriculture and industry with male-only data for other employment. Several other maps in the demographic section concern housing, retail activity, and administration. He finds the main transport maps more interesting cartographically and singles out a regional parish-level population map whose dots, squares, and colors show population totals and change more clearly. He concludes that the atlas is a many-sided historical document, but considers some economic and population mapping too simple to produce the comparative conclusions envisaged by its compilers and does not regard it as an exceptional cartographic achievement.