
Map Stories: The Art of Discovery
Graham Chandler
Francisca Mattéoli
2016, Octopus Publishing, 978-1-78157-377-8, $29.99 hb.
This atlas-sized volume takes seven global travel themes, presents 52 ancient map reproductions accompanied by 23 stories and “invites the reader on a journey from map to map, to let their imagination run free,” as the author puts it. Her theme works: Readers should particularly enjoy the tales on Petra, the Nile, Aqaba, Madagascar and the Orient Express. In the section on Aqaba, she focuses on T. E. Lawrence’s work to mobilize the Arabs against the Turks during World War I, concluding that capturing the old port town on the Sinai Peninsula in 1917 meant “this part of the world map had just been redrawn.” Though not intended as a scholarly work, the stories are well-chosen and fascinate despite the some florid prose. The narratives are only loosely connected with the maps, most of which date back centuries, but the maps themselves are superb. This book would be very much at home on a coffee table.
You may also be interested in...
British Library’s 500-Year-Old Nizami Manuscripts Shed Light on Power of Art and Poetry in 12th-Century Herat
Persian and Mughal scholar and specialist Barbara Brend presents a comprehensive study of one of the most highly esteemed works of Persian Literature.Zeina Abirached’s Art Uncovers Urgency of Wisdom in Gibran’s The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran’s 1923 classic is given new life, as Abirached’s graphic novel blends Lebanese artistry with the late author’s timeless wisdom.