Brotton, Jerry

"[Argues] how maps and stories have always been intimately entwined. Including . . . a unique map of the Mediterranean from the eleventh-century Arabic Book of Curiosities, al-Sharif al-Idrisi's twelfth-century world map, C.S. Lewis's map of Narnia, J.R.R. Tolkien's cosmology of Middle-Earth and Grayson Perry's twenty-first-century tapestry map, this . . . book analyses maps as objects that enable us to cross sea and land; as windows into alternative and imaginary worlds; as guides to reaching the afterlife; as tools to manage cities, nations, even empires; as images of environmental change; and as digitized visions of the global future"--Provided by publisher.

"A fascinating look at twelve maps-from Ancient Greece to Google Earth-and how they changed our world In this masterful study, historian and cartography expert Jerry Brotton explores a dozen of history's most influential maps, from stone tablet to vibrant computer screen. Starting with Ptolemy, "father of modern geography," and ending with satellite cartography, A History of the World in 12 Maps brings maps from classical Greece, Renaissance Europe, and the Islamic and Buddhist worlds to life and reveals their influence on how we-literally-look at our present world.

Why do we put north at the top of maps? Which maps show us the way to Heaven, and which show the "land of no sunshine" or the land of "people with no bowels"? This book looks at the history of maps, from ancient maps such as medieval mappae mundi to Google Earth.