Maps and Mapping - Kingfisher Young Knowledge

Advantages: Excellent reproductions. Very informative
Disadvantages: Rather large!

...A fascinating book. Charting the history of particular maps from 1475 to 1899. The maps (all one hundred and twenty of them) are excellently reproduced. Each map is very well described showing the way the world has changed over five centuries. It is amazing how accurate some of the early maps were when one considers how little of the world had been discovered. The amount of knowledge and skill that was needed to produce these maps must have been immense. Not only are they beautiful to look at they are also very instructive. The maps shown in this volume are by no means only to be found in museums and galleries, each one has been in a map dealer's shop within the last twenty years. Ashley and Miles Baynton-Williams are third generation map specialists. In this book they show their scholarly knowledge of antiquarian maps... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Comprehensive coverage.
Disadvantages: Er! Let me think....

...Well, you can call me a geek, anorak or nerd but I don`t mind admitting that I am mad about maps! Before a visit, during a visit or after a visit, you can find me absorbed in these multi-coloured sheets of paper, studying and reading them like a book. Although I have thousands already, I always welcome one brought home for me from someone`s holiday or trip and if I`m going myself, the first item on my list is always…MAPS! So call me an anorak then! Almost every house will have maps of some description, be they Ordnance Survey , Michelin, Collins or A-Z. Most of us that travel a lot by car will have lots of them, stuffed into glove or door pockets or maybe just chucked carelessly onto the back seat. Whatever the publishers, at some time or another they are indispensable. Geographers` A-Z Company produce some... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Helps ease the tensions between the sexes.
Disadvantages: Not everyone knows the book.

...The other day a colleague of mine told me that whenever they return from an invitation, his wife annoys him by asking questions like, ´Did you see So-and-so´s expensive watch?´ or ´Did you notice that Mrs So-and-so dyes her hair?´ or ´Do you think X and Y have an affair?´ He said that he´d better things to do than waste his time which such trivia, he preferred a good conversation with an intelligent person to people watching. I looked down at him (I´m taller!) and said, ´My dear man, even if you wanted to, you couldn´t notice such things, because you belong to the male part of the human species and therefore have tunnel vision, you just don´t see what´s under your nose, let alone recognize body language and social interaction.´ I could make those remarks because I was reading Why Men Don´t Listen & Women Can´t Read Maps... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful