Editors’ Accounts
Atlas of Haiti: An image of the national reality
Christian A. Girault
Reviews & Reception
Readings: Atlas of Haiti
Hervé Théry
This article is an academic review of the Atlas d'Haïti published by CEGET-CNRS in 1985. The author first acknowledges the atlas's near-perfect quality in terms of information richness, cartographic craftsmanship, and reference value, filling a gap in Haiti's national cartography. However, the author argues that the work fails to fully achieve the goals stated in its foreword—providing a clear and synthetic image of Haiti's spatial reality. Criticisms focus on the traditional thematic organization that disperses key information, such as separating food production systems from related rural development and geomorphology plates, and the absence of thematic maps addressing the plight of poor peasants and networks of economic, political, and religious control. The author suggests that adopting the approach from his doctoral thesis—reconstructing social geography through coffee trade networks—would have better demonstrated the value of cartographic methods in analyzing development issues.Expand ↓
This article is an academic review of the Atlas d'Haïti published by CEGET-CNRS in 1985. The author first acknowledges the atlas's near-perfect quality in terms of information richness, cartographic craftsmanship, and reference value, filling a gap in Haiti's national cartography. However, the author argues that the work fails to fully achieve the goals stated in its foreword—providing a clear and synthetic image of Haiti's spatial reality. Criticisms focus on the traditional thematic organization that disperses key information, such as separating food production systems from related rural development and geomorphology plates, and the absence of thematic maps addressing the plight of poor peasants and networks of economic, political, and religious control. The author suggests that adopting the approach from his doctoral thesis—reconstructing social geography through coffee trade networks—would have better demonstrated the value of cartographic methods in analyzing development issues.
Review: Atlas d'Haïti
Mike Morrisssey
This is an academic review of the Atlas d'Haïti (1985), published by the Centre d'Étude de Géographie Tropicale (CNRS) and the Université de Bordeaux 3, France. The review notes that Haiti is the third Caribbean country to publish a national atlas, following Cuba (1970) and Puerto Rico (1984). Compiled by a French team with contributions from 26 specialist authors, the atlas contains 30 chapters covering Haiti's geographical location, historical development, physical geography, population, agriculture, economy, and culture. The review highly praises the cartographic quality and use of color, describing the maps as flawless and impeccable in concept and design, and notes that they present up-to-date data unavailable elsewhere. It also identifies weaknesses, including the subpar quality of black-and-white photographs that tend to focus on poverty, and the absence of page numbers due to the loose-leaf binding, which limits the index to chapter headings only. Overall, the review regards the atlas as a high-quality national publication.Expand ↓
This is an academic review of the Atlas d'Haïti (1985), published by the Centre d'Étude de Géographie Tropicale (CNRS) and the Université de Bordeaux 3, France. The review notes that Haiti is the third Caribbean country to publish a national atlas, following Cuba (1970) and Puerto Rico (1984). Compiled by a French team with contributions from 26 specialist authors, the atlas contains 30 chapters covering Haiti's geographical location, historical development, physical geography, population, agriculture, economy, and culture. The review highly praises the cartographic quality and use of color, describing the maps as flawless and impeccable in concept and design, and notes that they present up-to-date data unavailable elsewhere. It also identifies weaknesses, including the subpar quality of black-and-white photographs that tend to focus on poverty, and the absence of page numbers due to the loose-leaf binding, which limits the index to chapter headings only. Overall, the review regards the atlas as a high-quality national publication.