ATLASES - help

OK. I've received information that the following 2 atlases are the best that exist in the world:

* Westermann - Der Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte, Orbis Verlag

* Putzger-Bruckmüller - Historischer Weltatlas, öbv-hpt Verlag

In precise, I've been instructed to acquire one of these two for a person. However, there's a problem. Firstly, the first thing's the obvious one - which of these two is better? As far as I've understood so far, Westermann's is out of production, but in "obsession for details" and number of maps supersedes Putzger's - a more modern and best atlas of global history so far.



Westermann's problem: Apparently, the Westermann's Great Atlas is actually no longer in production, since the latest version that has been printed is from 2001 (although this could be Amazon.co.uk's error, as I believe it has actually been printed in 1997 for the last time), and this "Orbis" publishing house (if I understood well, this is the main German publishing house for educational material, Munich-based?) as given in the instructions doesn't even print it any longer - if it printed it at all (I failed, despite a good knowledge in German, to find usable information using the internet - isn't "The Westermann" a publishing house in its own that printed these?).



Putzger's problem: This atlas has been a lot easier to find, mainly because as it seems it is still in production, and it also seems to be the "official" one, today. However, there is apparently an abundance of different versions. I've discovered that the publishing house I'm looking for - is the Austrian Federal publishing house (except the "hpt" - it could be for Hautpschule I guess). I've found on their web site ( http://www.oebv.at/sixcms/list.php?page=titelfamilie&titelfamilie=Historischer+Weltatlas&modul=startseite ) a 3rd-edition Putzger's Historical Atlas (for...9th grade?) with 204 pages. However the Inhalt reveals a significant modesty of this atlas ( http://www.oebv.at/sixcms/media.php/10/putzger_inhalt.pdf ) when compared to the other, German versions. Therefore I'd really not miss on a better choice - i mean, if it's all Putzger (and even also from the same modern creator), then what's the big picture? I'd really not waste valuable money and not spend just a few coin more for something that could far more usable than the thing I had bought.

An inspection of the Amazon reveals that the latest edition, the 103rd, has got 260 and 308 pages respectively (I can't somehow grasp the difference between http://www.amazon.de/Putzger-Historischer-Weltatlas-Kartenausgabe-Register/dp/3464642615/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275796402&sr=1-2 and http://www.amazon.de/Putzger-Historischer-Weltatlas-historischer-Weltatlas/dp/3464001784/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275796402&sr=1-1 ) which is considerably more than the Austrian version. A Contents would be nice to have for comparison, but I can't seem to find any on the world wide web. Another problem is that the publishing house of this, German version, is called "Cornelsen" - and it's not precisely the one I've been instructed.

But, I simply cannot understand this huge number of different versions of Putzger's Historical World Atlas. There is apparently a special one for every single Federal State in Germany (e.g. this one appears to be for Bayern - http://www.amazon.de/Putzger-Historischer-Weltatlas-Putzger-Weltatlas/dp/3464639673/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275796402&sr=1-4 ). And yes, there also seems to exist a difference in content, since e.g. this latest Bayern-based one from 2006 has got a total of 316 pages. My suspicions about a number of different versions seem to be corroborated by Cornelsen's official website: http://www.cornelsen.de/lw08?hasjs=1275796761&submittedByForm=1&suchtreffer=true&r=2950&ra=2024

If there is anyone who is well informed in atlases, especially if from Austria or Germany, please do help. If there is any clarification or correction that can be offered, please anyone - help. I need to order this ASAP.