A History of the World in Twelve Maps

Maps are flattened, reduced, generalized and sometimes explained but always culturally constructed depictions of the surface of the Earth or a part thereof. Although there is little doubt that maps, at their best, are condensed graphic expressions of the prevailing zeitgeist, some writers playfully or seriously suggest that there are maps that changed the course of history on a regional or even global scale.

Jerry Brotton, professor of Renaissance studies at Queen Mary,University of London, and presenter of a  BBC Four series on maps, has packaged a 500-plus-page book to ride this tide.Besides an introduction and conclusion, the book is organised more as a collection of 12 loosely related essays than as a thoroughgoing narrative. 

1. Science
2. Exchange
3. Faith
4. Empire
5. Discovery
6. Globalism
7. Toleration
8. Money
9. Nation
10. Geopolitics
11. Equality
12. Information

Brotton's argument: "The idea of the world may be common to all societies; but different societies have very different ideas of the world and how it should be represented."

Given Brotton's expertise, it is not surprising that about half the book is devoted to the contextualisation of five important early modern European maps.The remainder discusses maps from antiquity to the contemporary.