Overview

An illustrated story of the relationship between mapping and secrecy, charting the role maps played in concealing and revealing knowledge across centuries. Is there anything more intriguing than a secret map? One that reveals clandestine information or meanings, or a map that is itself a secret? Secret Maps features over one hundred examples of these kinds of maps, connected by their varied relationships to secrecy, and ranging from the twelfth to the twenty-first centuries and across the globe. They include views into state secrecy and power--such as maps used for domestic and military purposes, imperial expansion, espionage, and surveillance as well as those with private or commercial uses, such as charts of private land, trade routes, or the flights of private jets. The maps span widely in their scope and cover issues of broad interest, from old-fashioned spying to contemporary concerns about technology and privacy. As illuminating as it is thrilling, Secret Maps unearths the once-hidden routes, landscapes, and locations that have covertly shaped our world.

Full Product Details

9780226846163

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Mapmakers walk an ever-shifting line between the need to share information and the desire to withhold it, generating tensions that are masterfully explored in this volume. Drawing on the vast British Library archive, the authors showcase a myriad of motives and methods for secrecy in maps. A singularly rich exploration of a central theme in cartographic history.""--Kären Wigen editor of ""Territorial Imaginaries: Beyond the Sovereign Map"" ""Every map conceals and simultaneously reveals knowledge. The brilliance of Secret Maps is in showing how this paradox lies at the heart of not just mapping, but humanity's obsession with making and decoding secrets at the level of states, empires, societies, and even individuals. Extraordinary in its range and depth, from Henry VIII's coastal maps to maps of hidden treasure, the Western Front, and the Cold War, this beguiling survey of secret maps charts new directions in map history.""--Jerry Brotton author of ""A History of the World in Twelve Maps"" and ""Four Points of the Compass"" ""Here is a compendium that should not exist, as its subjects were supposed to be hidden. The immediate response is therefore to race eagerly through to discover the most incredible revelations. But on further inspection, this work is exquisitely written and presented: at last, a map book which allows the subjects to breathe and provides the illuminating stories behind them. A tour de force of the subject that has never before been attempted so comprehensively, Secret Maps is a compulsory contribution to the cartography canon. It is intensely informative and deeply delightful, assuring high prominence in any map lover's collection.""--Mark Ovenden author of ""Transit Maps of the World""

Author Information

Tom Harper is the British Library's Head Curator of maps. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including A History of the 20th Century in 100 Maps and Atlas: A World of Maps. Nick Dykes is a cartographic curator at the British Library. Magdalena Peszko is a cartographic curator at the British Library.

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