
Every map tells a story and this book tells the incredible history of our world through maps.
From Babylonian tablets to digital mapping, the world has evolved rapidly, along with the ways in which we understand and depict it. In this time, cartography has not only kept pace with these changes, but has often driven them. In this fully revised and updated edition spanning more than 4,500 years, each individual map provides a unique visual insight into our past.
This beautifully designed collection includes many famous examples of cartography, along with some that deserve to be better known. Witness countries and cities come and go, empires rise and fall, significant geographical discoveries, and key historical events unfold.
Key maps shown include:
- Babylonian clay tablets, c.2300 BC and c.600 BC – some of the world’s oldest surviving maps
- Hereford Mappa Mundi, c. 1290 – medieval map of the world
- Aztec City Maps 1524/1541 – precious images of the Aztec capital and their migrations before the Spanish came
- Cook Chart of New Zealand, 1770 – the first complete chart of the coastline showing that New Zealand was made up of two islands
- Selden Map of China, c. 1620 – Ming map of China and South-east Asia
- The Scramble for Africa, 1852/1898 – the European powers rush to colonise Africa
- Booth Poverty Map, 1898 – mapping deprivation in Victorian London
- Ypres, 1918 – mapping the deaths in one of the First World War’s bloodiest battles
- Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 – map used by President John F. Kennedy during the crisis
- COVID map, 2021 – a map of the Global Pandemic
International availability - Europe and the United States.
We have resumed some European and US shipping in line with new EU GPSR regulations and recent changes to US tariffs. British Library Publications, including our subscriptions, are now available for order for customers across Europe and the United States.
We will continue rolling out our most popular products to these regions in stages. If you are browsing from Europe or the US, you can now see the products that are available for you to order.
We’re working hard to expand the offering, so the selection you see online will continue to grow as products are cleared for shipping.
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