100 maps The science, art and politics of cartography throughout history

Book - 2005

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Subjects
Published
New York : Sterling Publishing c2005.
Language
English
Other Authors
John Owen Edward Clark (-)
Physical Description
256 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 31 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781402728853
Contents unavailable.
Review by Choice Review

This atlas contains 100 attractively presented maps, each with a story appended explaining its qualities: scientific, imaginative, propagandistic, etc. The maps vary greatly in age and are here reproduced in their original colors. They have been arranged in six categories: the earliest maps; cartographic breakthroughs; the age of exploration; military maps; drawing the line; and fantasies, follies, and fabrications. The maps range across history from an ancient clay tablet map drawn more than 4,000 years ago in a country now known as Iraq to maps of the tsunami of 2004. Many of them are well-known maps, or maps of well-known events. Each map tells an individual story; conjointly, the maps form a chronologic cartographic history. This well-wrought production will appeal to both advanced readers and neophytes. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. G. J. Martin emeritus, Southern Connecticut State University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Cartographers have been actively representing the world as they know or imagine it since an ancient Sumerian estate owner drew the boundaries of his property. The recent controversy over the accuracy or political correctness of the Mercator map of the world demonstrates that cartography has hardly been a benign skill and occupies a domain somewhere between art, science and propaganda. The editor of this stunningly illustrated volume captures the challenges, successes and failures of making maps throughout history. The 100 maps are divided into six sections that chart momentous events in cartography, such as Ptolemy's revolutionary mapping of heaven and earth, the Peutinger Table (a first-century B.C. traveler's map of Rome and its roads) and Harry Beck's 1933 pathbreaking and brilliantly drawn map of the London Underground (New York City's subway map is based on it). Author and encyclopedist Clark includes maps that express the political imagination-e.g., propaganda maps of a new Germany under the Nazis-and the literary imagination-e.g., Tolkien's map of Middle-Earth. These maps are fascinating and often exquisite, and help us to see how maps fire and form our imagination of our physical world. (Feb. 20) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

This handsome collection of antique and modern maps beautifully reproduced in full color presents a history of cartography written specifically for the nonexpert. Encyclopedist Clark, who authored the accompanying text with five other contributors, notes, "There are in fact 156 maps in this book; but some are reproduced small, and some are representative of similar cartographic themes; it is hoped and intended that 100 maps are of sufficient size and difference to be examined more closely." The maps are arranged chronologically within six topical sections: "The Earliest Maps," "Cartographic Breakthroughs" (from Ptolemy to mapping Venus and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami), "The Ages of Exploration," "Military Maps," "Drawing the Line" (maps as "expression of territorial annexation"), and "Fantasies, Follies & Fabrications" ("map controversies and works of the imagination," including the Vinland Map and Tolkien's Middle-earth). Significant cartographers through history are highlighted as well. Bottom Line Very similar in scope, treatment, and content to Walker's recently released The Map Book, this work is highly recommended. It is particularly suitable for libraries with cartographic or related collections as a companion or less-expensive alternative to The Map Book.-Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.