Description
Product Description
Cartography enthusiasts rejoice: the bestselling author of the Just My Type reveals the fascinating relationship between man and map.
Simon Garfield’s
Just My Type illuminated the world of fonts and made everyone take a stand on Comic Sans and care about kerning. Now Garfield takes on a subject even dearer to our fanatical human hearts: maps.
Imagine a world without maps. How would we travel? Could we own land? What would men and women argue about in cars? Scientists have even suggested that mapping—not language—is what elevated our prehistoric ancestors from ape-dom. Follow the history of maps from the early explorers’ maps and the awe-inspiring medieval Mappa Mundi to Google Maps and the satellite renderings on our smartphones, Garfield explores the unique way that maps relate and realign our history—and reflect the best and worst of what makes us human.
Featuring a foreword by Dava Sobel and packed with fascinating tales of cartographic intrigue, outsize personalities, and amusing “pocket maps” on an array of subjects from how to fold a map to the strangest maps on the Internet, On the Map is a rich historical tapestry infused with Garfield’s signature narrative flair. Map-obsessives and everyone who loved Just My Type will be lining up to join Garfield on his audacious journey through time and around the globe.
Review
Praise for On the Map
“Simon Garfield is charming company. His passion for the graphic carries the reader along […]
On the Map offers a world of revelation.”
–USA Today
“Mr. Garfield's book serves an immense need, connecting the latest geocacher with both the ancient art and modern science of the cartographer. Each may benefit from learning how the other approaches maps. Mr. Garfield uniquely provides that bridge.”
–Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“There is a great deal that is good and charming and fun about this book.”
–Simon Winchester,
The Washington Post
“Garfield has a knack for creating high-spirited, erudite and user-friendly books on subjects that may seem crashingly dull to all but a few fanatics. […]
On the Map is a treasure: exhilarating, witty, compulsively readable and just plain fun.”
–Seattle Times
“A collection of marvelous anecdotes that explore the role maps have played in shaping human culture since ancient times.”
–NPR.org
“Garfield’s new book details the evolution of cartography and why maps play such a vital role in our lives. […] his reverence for the form shines through vividly.”
–Penthouse
“Garfield’s interest in the human side of mapmaking— the personalities, anecdotes, curiosities—is what makes
On the Map such an enjoyable read. […] vastly entertaining.”
–BookPage
"Garfield is a wonderful writer who deploys suspense to excellent effect, making each chapter read like a delightful short story or mini-mystery; his book speaks of vast, hidden depths."
–
Smithsonian Magazine
“A vivid foray into the romance of maps. [...] A fine, fun presentation of the brand of cartography that continues to whet our imaginations.”
–Kirkus
“Engaging …full of little conversation pieces”
–Janet Maslin,
New York Times
"Enlightening and impossible to put down [. . .] The length and breadth of his scholarship are staggering, while the witty tone makes for the most convivial of literary guides."
–Booklist
"Readers will enjoy this romp through 16,000 years of mapmaking."
–
Library Journal, starred review
"Delightful... If maps be the fuel of wanderlust, read on."
–From the foreword by Dava Sobel, author of
Longitudes
“There couldn’t be anyone better to write about our love for maps than Simon Garfield, who is a master at unearthing strange facts and mixing them with a lively personal narrative...fascinating.”
–Giles Foden,
Condé Nast Traveller (UK)
"Completely enthralling."–Daily Mail (UK)
"Garfield has a genius for being sparked to life by esoteric enthusiasm and charming readers with his delight."
–Times (UK)
"Simon Garfield’s new book is a rollicking sweep t
Features
- Gotham Books