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Feb 11, 2011

Joe rated it:

As a cartomaniac, a librarian, and a history lover myself, this book seemed to be just the ticket for me. I loved the digressions into the science of maps, notable historic maps, mapmakers, historic map thieves, explorers, map collectors and the map trade.
However, I found the story of the map thief to be about as bland as the thief's own name. In fact, the author takes pains to illustrate that thief is a personification of his own name. His is a story not worthy of telling, exc More...

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Apr 02, 2008

Peter rated it:

In June 2002, I arrived in Worcester, Massachusetts, where the courteous natives felt impelled to tell me that it was pronounced Wooster -- as though it would be anything else! (We Australians know and use the English pronunciation of such places.)

There I entered the Goddard Library to get my paws on Robert Goddard's papers, and I was given firm instructions as to how I would sit, in relation to the librarian's desk. So I said brightly "You've read 'The Island of Lost Maps', ha More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Lucy rated it:

"For him that steals, or borrows and returns not, a book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy, and let there be no surcease to his agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw at his entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not. And when at last he goes to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him for ever."
Librar More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 20, 2007

daniela rated it:

I bought the book for a few reasons:
- I liked the cover.
- I like Islands.
- I like maps.
- I like some true stories.
- It seemed totally random.

Highly recommended because even if you like none of the above reasons, you will still love reading it. Yay cartography!

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Lori rated it:

Nothing ruins a good book more than an author confusing his quest to find the story with "the story."

This book is best when Harvey is relating actual events. He includes several true stories about map thefts or about cartographers that I found interesting because 1. their affect on historical events is obvious, and 2. these events are generally unknown to the average reader. There are some great stories in the first half of this book.

But there is far too much More...

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Oct 02, 2007

Deb rated it:

I read this book while working for the AP in Chicago in 2000. I learned that the first-time novelist, Miles Harvey, lived in Chicago and set out to interview him in one of my own favorite places in the city -- the venerable Newberry Library, where he did much of his research for this non-fiction work. Along the way, I got to see and touch a map from the 1500s. So what? It turns out these old maps are quite valuable, and the prolific map thief whom Harvey writes about realized that and worked qui More...

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Apr 17, 2007

Corey rated it:

Toted as the story of a cartographic criminal, Miles Harvey takes his time telling that story while interspersing the tale with mildly related essays on travel, books, people obsessed with their particular specialty and, as always, a love of antique maps. Since so little is known about the actual cartographic criminal, Harvey's travels across America to get ever-closer to the elusive thief provide just as interesting a narrative as if he were telling the thief's story.

The main story More...

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Apr 23, 2008

JulieK rated it:

This is the story of Gilbert Bland, who was arrested after stealing historic maps from libraries all over North America. The author talks about how the popularity of eBay and the Antiques Roadshow is putting archival collections in more danger, as interest in -- and prices for -- old documents, maps, books, and so on continue to rise. He also claims that some libraries refused to admit they had anything stolen, presumably so as not to frighten off potential donors. However, this meant that they More...

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Feb 10, 2012

Khulser rated it:

Map dealer w. razor blade visits libraries. The maps themselves are so marvelous, replete with imaginary places and fantastical figures that the greedy little fellow named Gilbert Bland seems that much more unsavory. While a kid entrapped in a stop and frisk can spend years in jail, this man who was caught repeatedly, and actually listed his targets like an accountant plotting his financial future served a matter of months for crimes that totaled millions. What ever happened to "three strik More...

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Aug 15, 2011

Leslie rated it:

I can’t believe I finally finished reading this book! I never thought I’d make it! Even Jake said he felt relieved when I was finally done. So I suppose it’s not hard to guess that I thought this book was pretty boring and way longer than it needed to be. I would repeatedly find myself at the bottom of a paragraph and realize I had no clue what I had just read. Or I would suddenly come to with a jolt and a major crick in my neck. Oy!

The author took what was a mildly interesting More...

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Jan 23, 2011

Alex rated it:

Miles Harvey is a writer for Outside magazine and it was quite some time age that he was given the assignment to write a well-researched article on cartographic crime. Having been obsessed with maps, order, and direction from a young age, the article was written, and then Harvey began researching the same subject for a book. In his travels he discovered one of the most notorious and recent perpetrators of cartographic crime, Gilbert Joseph Bland, Jr. The Island of Lost Maps is this man’s stor More...

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Jan 10, 2011

Homer rated it:

Kisah Houtman bersaudara yang menyelusup ke Portugis untuk mencuri peta pelayaran ke Indonesia, adalah informasi pertama yang membuat saya tertarik untuk membaca buku ini. Faktanya Houtman bersaudara berhasil mendarat di Banten.

Peta antik, perpustakaan, obsesi dan para pencuri, rasanya adalah kombinasi kisah yang akan membuat buku ini menarik. Saya langsung membayangkan sebuah karya jurnalisme investigatif dengan pendekatan sastrawi seperti buku The Orchid Thief yang berhasil memukau s More...

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Oct 13, 2011

George rated it:

Instead of the title "the Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime" this book would have been more accurately titled "The Story of Maps: Plotting, Thieves, Discoveries, The Unknown, and Anything Else I Can Possibly Think Of."

The purported core of the story, a map thief named Bland, remains a mystery and so the author, in an attempt not to waste 10 years of research, throws everything and anything into the pot. The result is not that palatable and o

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 05, 2009

Alleycatfan rated it:

I started this book last night at about 9 p.m. I could not put it down until I was unable to keep my eyes open any longer at about 3:30 a.m. In other words it's great! I'm on page 175 and can't wait to finish up work so I can finish it. It's like a mystery/spy novel that is true a story. Any one who likes maps, legends, old books or just a well written non-fiction book will really enjoy this. It's along the lines of The Devil in the White City. Did I say I am loving it?

Well I finish More...

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Dec 09, 2011

Pikachu rated it:

I grew up on Nancy Drew and Scooby Doo, so I always have a soft spot for old-fashioned heists and capers that involve old books and antiques being stolen for foul and nefarious purposes (i.e. profit). Imagine my delight when I find this book, which not only covers the aforementioned subjects — it illustrates a real theft, with a broad and sweeping microhistory of cartographers and maps in general. Oh my goodness! I was in book heaven for four days.

The villain of this book is Gilbert More...

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May 09, 2010

Nancy rated it:

Picked up this book at Barnes & Noble off their bargain table. True story of Gilbert Joseph Bland, Jr.( A Master thief of Old Maps, and many aliases.)

This book intersperses many true story lines from master authors, and map makers. History, History and more compelling History! I need to read more of this type of book.

Miles Harvey knows his way and subjects. He gently mentors & guides the reader through different books and their underlying stories. We read about unscru More...

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Sep 22, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

This is the kind of book that I WISH had been used as a history text book in grade school, bringing the history to life, making me want to learn more rather than immediately close (if I'd even managed to open it) the dry compilation of facts and dates.

Of course, Harvey's book is not really a book on history, It is an amazing account of our fascination with maps, the history of map makers, map theft, librarians and libraries - with a focus on one particular map thief.

Appa More...

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Jun 14, 2011

Sarah rated it:

An interesting piece of investigative journalism. It sort of read like The Executioner's Song lite. This book was filed somewhere in the vicinity of the library science section of my local library (which also happens to be located a few blocks from Mount Vernon Square where Bland was initially apprehended and then released). But while it serves as a cautionary tale for librarians, it seems more of a criminal psychology book with a peppering of map and library trivia. Toward the end the tone bec More...

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Jun 18, 2011

Jeffrey rated it:

Around my house we have a sense that any book containing a map must be at least okay and probably wonderful. I don't think my wife or I ever mentioned this idea to our daughter, but one day she told me, "you know, Daddy, if a book has a map in it, I know I am going to like it." Okay, so maybe it is not the best way to judge a book, but it sure is a tempting generalization. Maps hold such wonder. I can look at topo maps or road atlases for hours. And with today's technology, who can res More...

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Jan 25, 2011

Colleen rated it:

It is hard to know what to say about this book which rather defies description. It purports to be about the prolifigate map thief Gilbert Bland, but really Bland's crimes are just the jumping off point for a book about maps,those who made them, and those who covet them. I thought this book would be more similar to The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, but because Bland remained but a shadowy presence, the feel of the two books is completely different. That said, I still found myself pulled into this More...

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Oct 30, 2011

Alison rated it:

-First and foremost, I'm really not a fan of non fiction. Some can be interesting enough but enough to keep my interest to read the whole thing.

-This book was pretty disappointing. I was hoping it would be more like a true crime book walking through the thief's steps because that would have been kind of cool. Instead we got the author as a character in his book.

-The book had so much other stuff in it, the 'real' story got lost. No joke about 40-50% of the book is the auth More...

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Apr 29, 2011

Sally rated it:

While the books organization is a bit loose, I found it a very interesting read. There was a lot of history with the role cartographic played (much of which had not occurred to me before) and a real appreciation for maps and the artist who create and preserve them. In some ways, I can imagine the book being turned into a History Channel miniseries. It had a bit of that tone and range. It does seem like a book written for a television-age culture, now that I think about it. That may even exp More...

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Dec 24, 2007

t-rex rated it:

On the subject of map theft: I preferred the more succinct, wonderfully written New Yorker article of the un-Bland Forbes Smiley III by William Finnegan.

1 comment like

Apr 20, 2007

michelle rated it:

Cartography, thievery, Duke, librarians, the Peabody Library, razors, and a man who nearly gets away with it all. Read it!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 14, 2010

Suzanne rated it:

I generally love books about people with unusual obsessions, especially those that manage to get them into trouble. (The Orchid Thief is a prime example.) Unfortunately, the author didn't have access to the criminal whose case is central to this book, so it falls a bit flat. Too much is left to speculation and the idea of the "island" (in the title) ends up being a rather weak thread.

This book does have some interesting anecdotes for bibliophiles and lovers of ancient maps More...

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Feb 21, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

This was an interesting investigation of the man behind the left of antique maps from books in libraries across the country and in Canada, George Bland. Harvey's book is hampered by Bland's complete refusal to talk with him and a less-than-thrilling denouement in the courts. He makes do by personalizing the book, exploring what the investigation and Bland came to mean to the author and the interesting places, people, and facts he explored in the process. But in the end, neither Harvey nor Bla More...

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May 29, 2007

Pamela rated it:

Never thought maps could be so interesting!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 02, 2010

Kate rated it:

This took me forever. The book had three interwoven parts: anecdotes on the history of cartography, a story about a notorious map thief, and the writer's experience tracking down the story of the thief. The cartographic history was fascinating, the crime story was interesting, but the experience of the writer was florid and hard to get through. That's why the book took me so long. It was full of overblown metaphors about mapping the story and rivers of information. But I learned a lot, some of i More...

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Nov 12, 2010

James rated it:

“The Island of Lost Maps” is a story of one man’s obsession about another man’s obsession.

The author charts the course of Gilbert Bland: child of a broken home, VietNam vet and map thief. In the 1990s, Bland cut a swathe across the libraries of North America, surreptitiously slicing pages from atlases and selling them to hungry cartophiles.

Unable to meet the incarcerated Bland himself, the author retraces his steps, encountering librarians, map dealers and a psychologist sp More...

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Jun 12, 2009

Jaime rated it:

An easy, though somewhat dissatisfying read. Pretty pictures. Well indexed and with good note and citations.

Really, there are three threads in this book, and only one has to do much with the "cartographic crime" of the subtitle. The three threads intermingle throughout the book, more or less related.

First, there is a history of exploration and map-making. For me, this was the most interesting bit. It is accompanied by reproductions from old maps, illustrati More...

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