The Story of Maps by Lloyd A. Brown
Early map making was characterized by secrecy. Maps were precious documents, drawn by astrologers and travelers, worn out through use or purposely destroyed. Just as men first mapped the earth indirectly, via the sun and stars, so must the history of maps be approached circuitously, through chronicles, astronomy, Strabo and Ptolemy, seamanship, commerce, politics. From the first determination of latitude 2000 years ago through the dramatic unraveling of longitude 1700 years later, the story of maps plots the course of civilization. This book charts the course with a breadth and depth still unsurpassed in a scholarly survey.
