The Natures of Maps

Is this map of birds’ migratory routes informative or deceptive? Does it create the impression that nature is flourishing when it is really in decay? In today’s golden age of cartography, when technology has lifted mapmaking to an unprecedented level of sophistication, The Natures of Maps wants to be a party-pooper. Maps, it declares, pretend to be objective when their information is really political and selective. It seems a rather obvious message. The prejudices of mapmakers have been apparent at least since the 14th century when the monkish creators of the Mappa Mundi placed Jerusalem at the centre of the world. This book is, however, aimed at geography students, and assumes a degree of gullibility not to be found among Spectator readers. They may skip the portentous, frequently patronising text in favour of the lush illustrations, and let their imaginations take wing with flocks of black-polled warblers as they fly from Nova Scotia 12,000 miles south to Patagonia.