A History of the World in Twelve Maps [Hardcover]

I don't like to write negative reviews of a product, especially books, but I was really struggling to find any redeeming features in A History of the World in Twelve Maps. The book starts with a very wordy introduction that incorporates philosophy, the Classics, theology and different creation myths, etymology and history, as well as a glaring editorial error that should have been spotted way before its publication. In it, the author also offers a few thought-provoking comments, such as "A world view gives rise to a world map; but the world map in turn defines its culture's view of the world. It is an exceptional act of symbiotic alchemy" and "In the act of locating themselves on it, the viewer is at the same moment imaginatively rising above (and outside) it in a transcendent moment of contemplation, beyond time and space, seeing everything from nowhere", but sadly these get swamped by the sheer amount of information Jerry Brotton is trying to get across. The second quote in particular evokes the desire to become immersed in the details of a map, but unfortunately for the reader the publisher has decided to skimp on the reproductions so that the maps getting the Brotton treatment are all grouped together in two sections in the book and are often pitifully reduced to near illegibility. The earliest surviving map from ancient Babylon barely gets a mention and the first chapter, devoted to Ptolemy's Geography, though setting the blueprint for all modern maps by establishing the principles of latitude and longitude and defining geography as a discipline, actually isn't a map at all but a scientific treatise. In examining the Geography, the author loses himself in detail, so that the result reads more like a doctoral thesis, complete with references and Greek terminology, than a book aimed at the general public. There is no narrative structure and it felt as if he was merely listing everything he's ever read about the subject, without consideration for his readership; a proper discussion of Ptolemy's work doesn't start until 20+ pages into the chapter, and even then I found it extremely difficult to take on board his conclusions, as I was being bombarded with fact after fact and was suffering from information overload. Surely a writer of good non-fiction books must not only know what to include and how to present the information to the reader to best advantage, but also what to leave out; sadly, this is not the case here. His chapter on the Hereford mappamundi fared slightly better, but again the author made the mistake of indiscriminately listing snippets of history, theology and the Classics, therefore turning the usual enjoyment of reading and learning into a chore. As a result, I decided to give up on reading the other chapters in this substantial book, unable to face the remaining 400 or so pages in it. This resignation is the more annoying because I feel that with its chosen title, the publisher inevitably invites comparison with Neil MacGregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects and loses out in both the quality of the writing and the reproductions of the artefacts. That's a real shame, as the subject has great potential, but unfortunately the book fails to live up to its promise.

In 1881, in the ruins of an ancient Babylonian city named Sippar, an intrepid archaeologist, discovered a 2,500 year old clay tablet. Now on display in the British Museum it proved to be the first known map of the world. This is the first fascinating and compelling story in a journey that Jerry Brotton takes the reader on spanning that first birds eye view of the world right up to the Google Earth map which dominates today.

The twelve maps all tell a different perspective as most maps tell you as much about the society that produced them and the beliefs of the cartographer as they do about the world. The author argues there is no such thing as a neutral map, as each one is making selective decisions. Maps were meant to make a statement about political power and authority.

What is apparent is the fact that you can not put a globe onto a flat piece of paper and therefore lines of longitude and latitude are stretched as with the first atlas created by Mercator in the late sixteenth century.

After two millenia, maps having been made on stone, animal skins and paper are now digitized and virtual. Yet, the author, suggests, the new innovations are not without controversy.

Jerry Brotton has written and produced a highly readable, engaging and interesting book. He has perfectly combined the dual themes of history and map making against a background of different cultures, politics and beliefs.

This is a book to be explored, and enjoyed. You will never look at a map, the same way again. Recommended.

I'm afraid this book rather defeated me. Instead of the engaging account that the author's tv history lead me to expect, I found a text so full of detail and erudition that it rather lost me, not so much because the material is too difficult, rather that my anticipated level of interest failed to rise to its significant challenge. Put simply, I didn't enjoy it, a feeling that increased the further I got into it. I also have to agree with other reviewers expressing some disappointment with the illustrations: those that are here are beautiful, but there were times when I felt the text needed more illustrative support.
I'm sure that the reader with a rather more specialist interest in cartography might find this a veritable feast: I'm afraid I was simply over-faced. How to rate it? Difficult, but I feel a duty to acknowledge that part of the failing might be my own engagement with a well produced and authoritative text. Less than 3 stars would be unfair, but in truth I can't pretend to have found the experience any better than 'OK'.