Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)

BOOK REVIEWS - Davis D. Joyce: D. W. Meinig: The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History. Volume 2: Continental America, 1800—1867. Yale University Press, 1993. 636 pp

all geography should be historical because "the central object in human geography is to understand the simultaneity of time and space in structuring social process." In any case, Ralph H. Brown's classic Historical Geography of the United States, published in 1948, was apparently the most recent synthetic treatment of the subject until Meinig began his work; a new effort was long overdue. D. W. Meinig was born in 1924. Seven years passed between the publication of volume one and volume two of The Shaping of America. At that rate, it will be 2007 before the projected fourth and final volume appears. One can only hope that Meinig manages to complete the task, for it is an important contribution indeed. 180