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Review
'A page-turning story ... It inspired generations of explorers then and will inspire readers now.', Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, Editor in Chief of WIRED Magazine -- Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, Editor in Chief of WIRED Magazine
`Boundlessly engaging book... the story of Europe's discovery and mapping of the entire world up to that point.'
--The Sunday Times
'Lester's book offers a clear survey of how people came to understand the world in which they lived.' --The Washington Post
'Lester has penned a provocative, disarming testament to human ambition and ingenuity.' --The Boston Globe
'Absorbing account of how a 16th-century cartographer put America on the map.' --Irish Times
'The best popular book on cartography, in fact, since Nicholas Crane's Mercator; and that is high praise indeed.' -- Observer
'A spellbinding account of an undertaking which would change the world forever.' --Karl White, Sunday Business Post
'Highly intelligent, entertaining and inspirational' -- Emma Baker, Real Travel - Book of the Month
'fascinating...a fast-paced and immensely entertaining story' --Marcus Tanner, Tablet
`Perfectly paced... an example of a phenomenon embarrassing to professional historians: a journalist who writes history better than we can.'
--Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
`Boundlessly engaging book... the story of Europe's discovery and mapping of the entire world up to that point.'
--The Sunday Times
'Lester's book offers a clear survey of how people came to understand the world in which they lived.' --The Washington Post
'Lester has penned a provocative, disarming testament to human ambition and ingenuity.' --The Boston Globe
'Absorbing account of how a 16th-century cartographer put America on the map.' --Irish Times
'The best popular book on cartography, in fact, since Nicholas Crane's Mercator; and that is high praise indeed.' -- Observer
'A spellbinding account of an undertaking which would change the world forever.' --Karl White, Sunday Business Post
'Highly intelligent, entertaining and inspirational' -- Emma Baker, Real Travel - Book of the Month
'fascinating...a fast-paced and immensely entertaining story' --Marcus Tanner, Tablet
`Perfectly paced... an example of a phenomenon embarrassing to professional historians: a journalist who writes history better than we can.'
--Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
Review
'A masterpiece of cartographic literature that will be of lasting importance', Simon Winchester
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Looking at the synopsis one could be forgiven for thinking that this book was all simply about the Waldseemuller map. Rather it is an epic story spread over some 400 years of mankind's slowly groping towards an understanding of the shape and nature of the planet, written in a beautifully lucid and gripping style. Toby Lester really does seem to have grasped the 'big picture' and tells it like a detective story. I thought I knew just about everything about the people and events portrayed but that knowledge has been immensely enriched by the insight Lester shares with us. I would recommend this book to anybody.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a delight to read and certainly exceeded my expectations. The strengths of the book are its breadth of coverage and the prose style of the author, Toby Lester. The latter is always an important aspect of any non-fiction book and is, in my opinion, the deciding factor when it comes to making the subject matter stimulating and enjoyable. The author carves out a wonderful story that embraces both continents and centuries. It is a timely publication given the recent documentaries on BBC and the exhibition at the British Library.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
No previous experience is needed to enjoy this book. It reads like an adventure story, using as its cast all the famous ancient names - Ptolemy, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Marco Polo, Henry the Navigator - we feel we should know more about. To have achieved such readability with such a serious history is a unique achievement. Here's what it did for me. I have shunned pre-15th century history, because not much original printed material is available (in an era before printing presses). As a result, my experience of anything written about the 300 years or so from 1200 - 1500, has been off-putting: full of archaeological, religious & classical references to historical mountain ranges I have never felt able or willing to climb. (I can't stand Aristotle - the only book I tore in two half way through reading it was De Anima. And I can't stand archaeology - using bits of clay to reconstruct Egyptian civilisation.) But if you are vaguely interested in the Age of Discovery from 1500 - 1800 and US history after that, and the last 150 years of Asian history, you will keep coming across something called humanism. Man is the measure of all things. This book has given me a richer foundation to explore the antecedents of the modern, humanist world we now live in. It is immensely learned, sympathetic to the reader and original in its chosen historical perspective - maps. And now an apology. I should not inflict my prejudice on Aristotle or archaeology on anyone who reads this. But I suspect that many normal readers, with insufficient knowledge about Classical civilisations will avoid a book like this because it is just more of the same impenetrable gossip about Greek & Roman thinkers. Don't. Read it. It is fabulous. These Greek & Roman thinkers - and so much else - come alive.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
fascinating journey through european mankinds understanding of the...
Every picture tells a story, then what is the story behind the picture? Every map will have it's story, then what is the story behind the Waldseemullermap from 1507? Read more
Published 18 months ago by Koos
maps
A REVEALING APPROACH TO THE WORLD.
EXCELLENT BOOK. PROMPT DELIVERY AND SECURE PACKING
WELL DONE
TC
EXCELLENT BOOK. PROMPT DELIVERY AND SECURE PACKING
WELL DONE
TC
Published 21 months ago by Mr. T. Conway Mrs Conway
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