Product Description

Maps are not just diagrams of the route from A to B - from the earliest times they have helped us make sense of our world, from the very local to the global. Simply organised as a progression through time, each map is not only a beautiful work of art in its own right but also tells us about our changing perception of the earth. Sometimes, of course, maps tell lies and there are examples represented here that are meant to alter or influence our understanding of the world around us. There are maps of oceans and continents charted by heroic adventurers sailing into the unknown, at sea for years in tiny ships. For every example of a beautifully embellished map that has survived there must have been scores of cartographers who perished at sea or in 'unknown parts'. Maps are not just about understanding and representing the physical world: they have an administrative use in demarcating national boundaries or individual plots of land, a social use in showing who lives where, a military use in depicting the layout of enemy positions, a political or propaganda use in showing one country or faction at an advantage over others. All are represented in this book, a history of the world in images from around the globe and from every epoch.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44996 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 360 pages

WANDERLUST
'a fascinating collection'

Review
'offers a cultural insight that cannot be recommended too highly.' (Andro Linklater The Spectator )

'a fascinating collection' (WANDERLUST )

'this splendid book' (Michael Kerrigan THE SCOTSMAN )

'this fascinating, beautiful, lovingly-produced coffe-table book' (Beatrice Sant HERITAGE )

'a superbly illustrated and fascinating celebration of the map in its myriad forms over time.' (TRAVELLER )

'this book is immensely enriches by the accompanying explanatory text' (Rosita Boland THE IRISH TIMES )

Michael Kerrigan, THE SCOTSMAN
'this splendid book'

Customer Reviews

Beautiful History of Maps
This is a beautifully produced book - with large pages displaying the example maps in excellent resolution.
The author takes a historical trip from the very earliest maps, scratched on whatever came to hand, up to the latest satellite images of the earth - which are more photograph than map.
The book also follows the story of human civilisation, and explains how maps have been pivotal in many phases of history - for explorers, the military, planners etc.
My only gripe is that the text provided for each map is limited to one (facing) page - which limits the potential for detail.

Excellent Book
This is a wonderful book that has lasted on our coffee table for longer than most!

The book steps through history from the earliest maps to the latest digital offerings. Each page has a full size extract from the map in question and a facing page that gives background and often a small thumbnail of the context or some detail of the whole. The pages are arranged and cross-referenced in date order. Some of the more striking maps have additional double page spreads, and there are two-page commentaries on tangental topics from time to time.

The text is fascinating and brings lots of world history that I kind-of new about into a new context: the gradually expanding knowledge of the world. Seeing how california went from island to peninsula, how the fabled southern continent appears and disappears, how sea-monsters gradually die out, who spain, the netherlands or the UK is at war with, and so on.

I suspect this isn't a book that will teach map-fans much (but is so beautiful to own nontheless), but for those with a casual interest I think it is a complete gem.

History of the influence of maps, not of maps
Beautifully produced book which concentrates on the political and social history of maps rather than the details of mapping and cartography.