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Simon Garfield - On The Map (2nd Hand Hardback)
Synopsis
Subtitled : Why the world looks the way it does.
Maps fascinate us. They chart our understanding of the world and they log our progress, but above all they tell our stories.
From the early sketches of philosophers and explorers through to Google Maps and beyond, Simon Garfield examines how maps both relate and realign our history.
With a historical sweep ranging from Ptolemy to Twitter, Garfield explores the legendary, impassable (and non-existent) mountains of Kong, the role of cartography in combating cholera, the 17th-century Dutch craze for Atlases, the Norse discovery of America, how a Venetian monk mapped the world from his cell and the Muppets' knack of instant map-travel.
Along the way are pocket maps of dragons, Mars, murders and more, with plenty of illustrations and prints to signpost the route. We also have x marks the spot, their promise of where we have been and where we might be going. This is the history of with way the world has been imagined, compared to what is really out there.
A book that manages to be both funny and factual.
From the bestselling and widely-adored author of Just My Type, On The Map is a witty and irrepressible examination of where we've been, how we got there and where we're going.
Details
- Format : Slightly Thicker 2nd Hand Hardback with Dust Jacket
- Condition : Good (A little general aging. Solid & Tidy though)
- Category : Non-Fiction - Geography, Earth Sciences & Space
- Published : 2012 (Profile Books - 1st Edition, 1st Printing with folded map insert "Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica")
- ISBN : 9781846685095
- SKU : B000047
- PPC : SP550gm
- RRP : £16.99 (Unclipped)
- Quantity Available : 1 only.
External Reviews
"Garfield has a genius for being sparked to life by esoteric enthusiasm and charming readers with his delight." - The Times.
"A rollicking sweep through map history, packed with curiosities and written with verve" - Independent on Sunday.
"Garfield allows his varied, expertly researched stories to speak for themselves, and in so doing helps us see that there are fewer things in life more useful, rewarding and beautiful than a map." - Daily Telegraph.
"Garfield's genial prose twinkles with the delight of discovery" - Tom Hawker, Wanderlust.
"There couldn't be anyone better to write about our love of maps than Simon Garfield, who is a master at unearthing strange facts and mixing them with a lively personal narrative . . . fascinating" - Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller.