From School Library Journal Grade 5-8-This updated edition of a 1995 publication is highly attractive and very current. However， it contains numerous problems and inconsistencies. Only some French terms receive suggested pronunciations， and several differ within the text and from text to glossary. The glossary is woefully incomplete and contains only a handful of French words， ignoring such challenging vocabulary as moors， conduit， vassals， placards， xenophobe， durables， coterie， flying buttresses， oratory， and hertz frequencies. The previous edition had maps helpfully scattered throughout the book， but now the three full-page maps (geopolitical， economic， and cultural) are all clustered at the end. The "Fast Facts" section here is confusingly split in two， and basic geographical facts like area， average temperature， highest point， longest river， etc.， are missing. In the geography chapter， regions are discussed randomly and jump all over the country. The history section is particularly weak and highly abbreviated; Gofen and Reymann do better with the government， economy， environment， and lifestyles. Finally， the writing is awkward， unclear， and repetitious， and includes puzzling non sequiturs. Don Nardo's France (Children's， 2000) is equally attractive and far superior to this title.Ann W. Moore， Schenectady County Public Library， NYCopyright © Reed Business Information， a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition. Card catalog description An overview of the geography， history， government， culture， and people of France.