Customer Reviews

Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities

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Like the author, I like maps, but unlike me, he got bored with the standard variety. He began a web site with the most unusual maps he could find -- from which web site came this book.

It is a remarkable collection. There are maps showing California as an island, of what Africa might have looked like if Germany had won its wars, of countries that never were, of countries that wanted to be bigger than they were, of a proposed reorganization of the U.S. into 38 states, and many more. Some are scary, some funny, some puzzling, some enlightening. Each map has enough background to make it comprehensible.

In the process of enjoying the maps, one learns things. There are islands of Germany surrounded by Belgium. Before the introduction of standard time zones, railroad timetables were much more complicated than they are today. And did you ever wonder why part of Delaware's border is a curve?

This is one of those books that is a pleasure to browse through. One can read it bit by bit, learning something every time.

If you like maps, you'll love this book.

If you regularly read the Strange Maps blog and want to support Frank Jacobs with a few bucks, then this is the way to go. The book compiles the blog entries with nice large photos and un-cluttered text. However, if you're like I am, and like to look things up on the internet as you read about them, the experience of reading one of Frank's stories on the web is vastly different than reading it in a book. The book doesn't add anything to the content already on the web, and you miss out on the links to original sources and cross-references to other Strange Maps stories. If you or someone you know likes well-researched and engaging anecdotes about maps combined with the experience of reading such things in a book, then this one's for you. But if you just want to see some cartographic curiosities and pick up a factoid or two along the way, then perhaps the Strange Maps blog should be your first destination. Then you can decide whether it's worth is to shell out some money to have print copies of all the wonderful maps Frank has collected.

The maps are both historical, fantasy based and several "what if" maps.
Ther is a map of the Land of Oz which is pretty cool. Several early American and colonial era maps have their conversation points. The photographs of some maps are small, and reading the details can be tedious at times. My favourite map is one showing what Europe would like like had Nazi Germany won WWII. Scary, yet very intriguing.

The future is also shown. There are two maps showing the moon walks of Apollo 11 and 12. A fold out map of Mars's moon Deimos reminds us that we are now mapping extra terrestrial locations. A map of Titan's (as of yet) unnamed liquid methane lake is just beyond amazing.

Daniel Padovano

Frank Jacobs's website has an honored icon on my Desktop; it's great fun to check what new and wonderful map he has come up with recently. All of his discoveries appeared first in print in a wide variety of publications, sometimes reprinted more than once. Jacobs then converts his map of the week to digital form and posts it on his website together with informative and amusing commentary.

This pretty little book collects some of his favorite maps and put them back into print again. As other reviewers have mentioned, the website is a living resource for anyone interested in maps. But it's very satisfying somehow to hold this book in the hand, partly to feel more in touch with the original version of the maps and partly to support Jacobs's efforts.

As an example of Jacobs point of view, this extract comes from a recent interview in "The New York Times":

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words. To rephrase that cartographically: a map is worth a thousand statistics. One of the best examples of cartography with a cause are Dr. John Snow's mid-19th-century cholera maps. His cartographic juxtaposition of cholera outbreaks and water sources showed the link between a contaminated water supply and the prevalence of the disease. By eliminating certain pumps, cholera cases were reduced dramatically. Dr Snow's research helped create the discipline of epidemiology. So yes, maps and the particular way in which they present information can be very influential indeed.

"Another stark example is Dr. Minard's map of Napoleon's ill-advised Russian campaign, also discussed in my book. It is a marvel of data presentation, combining six different sets of information. One of those is the size of Napoleon's army, represented by 1 millimeter for every 10,000 soldiers. The tiny trickle leaking out of Russia compared to the massive arrow going in is as horrifying an indictment as any of the madness and human cost of war."

If you have any interest in maps (or even if you don't and would like to understand why others might be), stop by the website or even better buy this fine book as well. It's one of those books you'll lend out time and again, assuming your friends ever return it.

Robert C. Ross 2009

Purchased this as a gift for my Dad...an avid lover of maps both strange and normal. He loved it and I looked through it before I gave it to him and I loved it. I am thinking of getting a copy for myself now. There are so many different kinds of maps from everything you could imagine. Definitely a win for any map or history or literature lover

I bought Strange Maps for a gift for my dad who LOVES maps. Since it is a larger format book, the images are large enough to view easily enough. While my dad is not the "reading type" and this book has a lot of text to go along with the maps, he couldn't wait to get started on reading it.

I was thrilled to receive Frank Jacobs' book, Strange Maps, for Christmas. I've followed his blog on and off for several years, and am always intrigued by its content. The book provides a little more background on the maps and some great pictures, but I wish a few of them were interactive... a little hard for these old eyes to see without a zoom lens. Regardless, the book was very enjoyable and I hope to be able to reference it now and again when a bit of trivia or a conversation starter is needed.

Many of these maps are beautiful. Some are fanciful and some are actually informative. Who knew that map making could be so creative. This book has inspired me to make some maps of my own.

Book is fantastic, a quirky look at history and how it was -or wasn't -mapped along the way. Highly enjoyable!

Bought this book for my 9 year old grandson for Christmas and he is fascinated by it. He loves to learn facts about maps and countries around the globe and this was a great find. It is full of unusual facts and information.