What do you think?
Rate this book
Mit 80 Karten durch die Schweiz
A tour of Switzerland through historical and contemporary maps
A map is the perfect pictorial way to explain and entertain. This book achieves both of these goals and provide a detailed picture of Switzerland. Diccon Bewes’ search for original maps led him through official archives and private collections. The results are presented here, along with the fascinating stories behind from the circular island map of 1480 to the birth of modern Swiss cartography; from the British rail plan for Switzerland to a Soviet map of Basel during the Cold-War; from the 1970s Zurich map for men to the vision of a Greater Switzerland with 40 cantons.
A map is the perfect pictorial way to explain and entertain. This book achieves both of these goals and provide a detailed picture of Switzerland. Diccon Bewes’ search for original maps led him through official archives and private collections. The results are presented here, along with the fascinating stories behind from the circular island map of 1480 to the birth of modern Swiss cartography; from the British rail plan for Switzerland to a Soviet map of Basel during the Cold-War; from the 1970s Zurich map for men to the vision of a Greater Switzerland with 40 cantons.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published September 7, 2015
About the author
Diccon Bewes
16 books51 followersDiccon Bewes was a British-Swiss author who wrote several books about the culture, society and history of his adopted home of Switzerland.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 4, 2018
A series of beautifully reproduced maps with informative accompanying text that tell part of the history/culture of Switzerland. They vary from historical political domains, to cultural divides, to tourism, to war, to redlight districts. Some are very conventional, others are wonderfully strange and unique.
It is very well done and the text makes it very accessible for anyone to pick up and learn something interesting regardless of how well you know the country (all but the most hardcore of Switzerland scholars are going to learn something here).
If it is worth buying will likely depend on how much you are interested in Switzerland. I feel I can spend far longer studying the various maps knowing many of the areas, towns and mountains myself. If I was not so familiar with them then the loss of meaning/context would probably reduce my interest somewhat.
The author has a TedX talk on this topic that is well worth a watch.
It is very well done and the text makes it very accessible for anyone to pick up and learn something interesting regardless of how well you know the country (all but the most hardcore of Switzerland scholars are going to learn something here).
If it is worth buying will likely depend on how much you are interested in Switzerland. I feel I can spend far longer studying the various maps knowing many of the areas, towns and mountains myself. If I was not so familiar with them then the loss of meaning/context would probably reduce my interest somewhat.
The author has a TedX talk on this topic that is well worth a watch.
October 16, 2016
Awesome & insightful collection of maps and stories. A unique way to discover Switzerland!
June 23, 2017
Absolut empfehlenswert, wenn man sich für die Themen Schweiz, Geschichte und Geographie begeistert. Sehr kurzweilig, anschaulich und einprägsam dargestellte grosse und kleine Ereignisse der helvetischen Vergangenheit bis hin zur Gegenwart.
April 20, 2023
Great book of maps with adjoining history
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews