Review: North Carolina: People and Environments, 2nd Edition
Elizabeth Hines, Professor of Geography, University of North Carolina at Wilmington; reviewed in the Southeastern Geographer, Vol. XXXXIII, No. 1, May 2003, pp. 151-153
'Geographers would love to have a volume like this for every state. The authors have created a reference work for North Carolina that is monumental in scope and detail. An abbreviated first edition of this work appeared in
1986. After North Carolina's population mushroomed from 6.6 million (in 1990) to nearly 8.2 million in 2001, an increase of 21%, the authors expanded and updated their earlier work, producing a much improved version. The Preface acknowledges that the second edition has doubled in size and grown
exponentially in detail. They have visualized "state environments on all geographic levels" by including over 800 illustrative maps and photographs, many in full color. The volume is intended not only for use as a textbook,
which role it serves admirably, but as a subregional reference work for any one interested in "understanding all aspects of land, life, and livelihood".
The authors have structured the book to "provide an analytic framework that allows citizens of the state to see where current public policy needs fine tuning, if not changing" as a way of improving statewide and local quality
of life and protecting North Carolina's fragile natural heritage. . . . North Carolina's physical environments are considered in thick detail in the book's first section. Climate, weather, hazards such as hurricanes, which
have weighed heavy on the state in the last decades, are considered in easily grasped global and temporal contexts. The geology, geomorphology, soil, hydrology, flora, and fauna follow in similar vein, each in turn
well-illustrated with excellent maps, photographs, data tables, diagrams, and enrichment boxes, such as one on El Nino. In addition to the copious illustrations that accompany the text in the first three chapters, pages 61 to 76 include numerous color plates of maps and photographs that further illustrate the concepts and provide a sense of place.
North Carolina's human geography is considered next. Included are chapters on demography, again with copious illustrations that place the state's population context across time and space. For example, the state's age and
gender characteristics from 1980 to 1990 are compared to the national data in a two-page layout (pp. 94-95). The next chapters consider North Carolina's primary economic activities of agriculture, fishing, and forestry (mining
is considered with geology in the first section). Each topic is well illustrated with maps, photographs, and data, so that anyone requiring detailed information on poultry or sweet potatoes can find it by browsing. . . .
The section on primary economic activities is also followed by 18 pages of excellent color plates, which include photographs, data graphs, maps, and boxes.
The next chapters explore the state's secondary and tertiary economic activities. For example, the furniture industry, one of the state's most important manufacturing endeavors, is explored from the local to the
international levels. Much more is covered, as well, ranging from employment data to the value of international exports, the rural/urban character of the state, and quality of life indices, including income, health, education
and crime statistics. Again, the already heavily illustrated section is followed by a large selection of well-captioned color plates. North Carolina's fragile natural environment is considered in Chapter 8
from historical and regulatory viewpoints. The foundation for this section was presented in the first three chapters, which allows the authors to go right to the heart of the state's natural environmental concerns beginning with
water quality issues and continuing through atmospheric and land degradation issues.
The final 252 pages consider North Carolina's regional geography in detail from perspectives varying between the primary regions of Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain, and Tidewater to specific economic and regulatory divisions
regions such as those of the Department of Transportation, those of the Division of Environment, and the Governmental Planning Agency Regions. The level of illustrative excellence vis á vis maps, photographs, data tables,
and graphs and color plates remain consistent throughout this section.
One of the things that I especially admire about this volume as a reference source is it Place Index. For example, there are eighteen pages listed where one can go to find what has been written or displayed on a map or in a
table about New Hanover County. The other counties receive similar comprehensive treatment as do the cities, many towns and over 600 other places and features. This gives the book a gazetteer quality that enhances its
usefulness as a reference volume.
There are a few minor flaws in the volume. The Subject Index could have been more complete. There are four indices, one for authors, which is of less interest to the student or reference user that a more thorough Subject
Index would be. Also included are the People, Agencies, and Organizations Index and the Place Index. However, when I tried to look up all references to sweet potatoes, they were not listed, nor were other subjects that users might
need to find quickly. Another flaw is in the printing of Color Plate 1.14. It looks as if the four forest types, marshes and water layers were not included. Aside from these minor complaints, North Carolina: People and Environments, second edition, is a tremendous achievement and an important
collection of geographic information about our rapidly changing state. It will make a wonderful text for a North Carolina Geography course, which is, of course, one of the author's intents. If students cannot find just the right bit of information about the state within the 559 pages of text, they can refer to its extensive bibliography.
(Editorial Note: Dr. Hines (and others) may find sweet potato referenced on page 581 in the Subject Index, under agriculture field crops)
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