THEATER OF THE WORLD: The Maps That Made History

Richly decorated with antique maps, a spacecraft image of the moon, 1548 image of Ptolemy Prince of astronomy from the book Geography, dozens of antique collectible maps through to satellite imagery, the Atlantic Ocean in a physiographic diagram, this is a beautifully illustrated full-colour history of mapmaking across centuries, using the visual representation of the world through time to tell a new story about world history and the men who made it. Chapters cover prehistoric maps, stories of creation, and Sumerian, Babylonian and Egyptian maps; world made for humans by God in which the clerics and cartographers of the Middle Ages depict the holy story of creation and the first atlases of Ortelius and Mercator. We are taken all the way from the mysterious symbols of the Stone Age to Google Earth, exploring how the ability to envision what the world looked like developed hand in hand with worldwide exploration and meet visionary geographers and heroic explorers along with other unknown heroes of the map-making world, both ancient and modern. Dutch nautical charts and the battle for the biggest Atlas, more about Mercator and all he never managed to complete; France, Denmark and Norway learn to survey large areas; Konsvinger gets a prime meridian in 1779, and maps play a role in central government and administration; the second Fram expedition sets out in 1898 in the wake of the many others that had previously tried to map the northern regions; the First World War paves the way for aerial surveys which in turn pave the way for a Norwegian economic map series and the appearance of maps in most areas of society. Lear about the 7/10 of our planet that are covered by water and Marie Thorpe's attempts to understand what the ocean floor looks like and why; and lastly we look at satellites and computers which provide and manage vast amounts of information and give us maps that are able to speak to us. Big glossy, glamorous colour pages, remainder mark. 18.73 x 24.13cm. 367 pages.