History of the World in Maps: The Rise and Fall of Empires, Countries and Cities

by The Times

From Babylonian tablets to Google Maps, the world has evolved rapidly, along with the ways in which we see it. In this time, cartography has not only kept pace with these changes, but has often driven them. Every map tells a story and this book tells the incredible history of our world through maps, and includes many famous examples of cartography, along with some that deserve to be better known. Key maps shown include Babylonian clay tablets, c.2300 BC and c.600 BC (some of the world’s oldest surviving maps); Waldseemüller World Map, 1507 (the first map to use the name ‘America’ for the New World), Waghenaer chart, 1584 (a forerunner to modern nautical charts), Abel Buell map of North America, 1782 (the first map of the newly independent United States that was produced in America by an American), the Scramble for Africa, 1852/1898 (maps of new colonies being created); Ypres, 1918 (map of the aftermath of World War I); and Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 (map used by President John F. Kennedy during the crisis).

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Maps

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 2014

About the author

The Times is a British daily (Monday to Saturday) national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently, and have only had common ownership since 1967.

See also:
The Sunday Times
The New York Times
The Times of India
The Tampa Bay Times
The Los Angeles Times
The Economic Times
The Seattle Times
The Irish Times
The Straits Times

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love looking at maps. I do wish I some of the bigger maps had more spots that were zoomed in to see more detail. I was surprised that Google Maps even had a short chapter at the end. Sometimes I just like messing around there.

[Dancingsocks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book full of really interesting maps and stories explaining a history of cartography alongside history. My only real issue was that the typeface is quite small considering the size of the book.

[Peter Ellwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me six months to read this excellent book from cover to cover. It's not the kind of material you curl up with by the fire and read for hours; but it is a wonderful assortment of maps and accompanying texts to explain them, from beautiful antique maps to Google maps made yesterday, as it were.