From School Library Journal Grade 7-12 --An unnecessary addition to global-studies collections. Sookram presents a quick glimpse at France's land， history， people， culture， cities， government， transportation and communication， and hopes for the future， as well as a look at France's relationship to the rest of the world. Among the numerous omissions are prehistory， cave art， Charles Martel， William the Conqueror， Champlain's and Cartier's explorations (although LaSalle is mentioned)， Lafayette， French innovations and discoveries， Lavoisier， Pasteur， the Curies， Bleriot， Montgolfier， Daguerre， Cousteau， the Concorde， famous buildings， and， incredibly， France's flag. France is also mistakenly described as being shaped like a pentagon rather than a hexagon. There is one general map， "Facts at a Glance" and "History at a Glance" (a chronological summary up to 1988) sections， and average quality black-and-white and color photographs. For a colorfully illustrated overview of the country， try Tunnacliffe's France: The Land and It's People (Silver Burdett， 1987)， Blackwood and Chosson's France (Bookwright， 1988)， or James' Inside France (Watts， 1988). All three books are interesting and inviting， aptly summarize the basics， and contain excellent maps and charts. For a comprehensive study， Moss and Palmer's France (Childrens， 1986) is readable， well organized， and vastly superior to Sookram's book. --Ann W. Moore， formerly at Lane Road Library， Columbus， OHCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information， Inc. Card catalog description Surveys the history， geography， economy， government， people， and culture of France.