To the Ends of the Earth: 100 Maps That Changed the World

by Jeremy Harwood

One hundred key maps that changed human perception and understanding of the world, changed the course of map-making itself, or directly influenced the path of history are provided in this illustrated, thought-provoking history of cartography.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Geography, Science, Maps, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A map can be a beautiful work of art in its own right. And it was in that spirit that checked this book out from the library. Lovely cover, isn't it? Sadly, the title, or at least the subtitle, is misleading, and gave me an entirely wrong idea of what the book would be like. 100 Maps That Changed the World suggests that each of the 100 maps will be discussed in full, and that each would have had a real impact on the course of history. Not so. Instead, this is a brief, overarching history of mapmaking. And that's fine. Not so fine is that the maps are pictured out of order from when they're described in the text, not all of the maps are pictured in full, and that absolutely no effort is made to describe how the vast majority of the maps "changed the world". The misleading subtitle is irritating, but the book is enjoyable enough on its own terms.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I did enjoy this book and find it a very informative read, I have some issues with it. The maps figured were fascinating and the picture quality exceptional. But merely a fraction of the maps discussed in the text were actually figured. Those which were figured were not necessarily figured in the order that they were discussed in the text which made it a little confusing. Some of those maps figured were only partially figured, not giving the reader the full experience of examining the map. The font chosen for the text was sans serif, making reading not as visually appealing an experience as it could have been. Lastly, I disagree with the subtitle "100 Maps that Changed the World". I would venture to say that only a handful of the maps actually changed the world. (Unless of course by "change" it means "change the way the world is portrayed in this map as compared to other maps".) The remainder of the maps may have changed the perceptions of the map readers, but beyond that the majority of the maps are merely the only records from a certain time, oldest, unique, odd, characteristic, innovative, or first of its kind. They were certainly noteworthy, but not world changing.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have an operation tomorrow, so my parents have been keeping me calm by dumping me in a bookshop with a tenner for a few days now. So in that time I managed to have a good read of this, which was beyond the reach of my tenner but looked fascinating. It's a bit confusing when you first glance at it (or maybe that's just me being unable to understand maps) but if you work your way through it, everything falls into place -- the maps are chronological, and there's a lot of interesting information as well.

Maps undoubtedly have a massive effect on the world. I'm just thinking of Brian Friel's play, Translations, where they're starting to make a map of Ireland... Maps serve many purposes, colonialism being one of them, so that was fascinating to think about in relation to these maps as well.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information this book has is great but it was very difficult to read without constantly flipping back to the map it was talking about that was rarely on the same page as the text that talked about it. About 1/3 of the way through I gave up and googled the maps to cut back on the flipping and to get better close up details. The historical context that it covered for the chosen maps was particularly awesome so you had multiple ways to see how epic these maps were and ehh there were chosen to be included.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers the history of maps and mapmaking from prehistoric times to the modern day by highlighting what the author considers the 100 most important maps of all-time. As one can imagine, the visuals in this book are really what counts and on most pages it lives up to its billing. Because of the way it is divided up, it is fairly easy to pick up and read at any spot. One could quibble with some of the map choices, but the vast majority had a major impact on the world in some way, shape or form.

[Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

The history of maps presented in a very entertaining way. The book would be of interest not only for professionals but also the general public. Beautifully made with very good illustrations