How to Lie with Maps (Hardcover)

by Mark Monmonier (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Monmonier (geography, Syracuse Univ.) reveals how and why maps "lie." He explains the methods cartographers must use to distort reality in representing a complex, three-dimensional world on a flat sheet or screen, and how they exclude information and geographic features in order to create a readable and understandable map. In addition to explaining the "white lies" told by every competent mapmaker and the errors caused by "cartographic carelessness," Monmonier explores the use of maps for advertising and propaganda, and the deliberate errors employed to confuse potential enemies or to trap copiers. Valuable for both students of cartography or geography and interested laypersons, this is recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
- Peter B. Kutner, Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Originally published to wide acclaim, this lively, cleverly illustrated essay on the use and abuse of maps teaches us how to evaluate maps critically and promotes a healthy skepticism about these easy-to-manipulate models of reality. Monmonier shows that, despite their immense value, maps lie. In fact, they must.

The second edition is updated with the addition of two new chapters, 10 color plates, and a new foreword by renowned geographer H. J. de Blij. One new chapter examines the role of national interest and cultural values in national mapping organizations, including the United States Geological Survey, while the other explores the new breed of multimedia, computer-based maps.

To show how maps distort, Monmonier introduces basic principles of mapmaking, gives entertaining examples of the misuse of maps in situations from zoning disputes to census reports, and covers all the typical kinds of distortions from deliberate oversimplifications to the misleading use of color.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 2 Sub edition (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226534200
• ISBN-13: 978-0226534206
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,747,570 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better, August 23, 2004

By	Thomas Paul (Plainview, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How to Lie with Maps (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Any book that calls itself, "How to Lie with..." is simply begging for a reviewer to compare it to, "How to Lie with Statistics." The latter is a classic that is fun and educational. Unfortunately, this book falls short of deserving the title but it is still an interesting read. One of the main problems is that rather than being a guide to help avoid being fooled by maps, the author uses the book as an introduction to the science of cartography. It seems that a large portion of the book is aimed towards the prospective mapmaker. I found these parts to be a bit difficult to get through. Also, there are very few real life examples in the book. I would have liked to see more examples from newspapers or magazines in place of the samples the author provides. Some of the few real life examples are from Nazi Germany and the USSR and seem very dated.

That was the bad side but there are many good points to the book. The chapter on development maps was very interesting (although the attempts at humor are wasted) and should be required reading for anyone who is serving on a zoning board. Also, the discussion of choropleth maps is excellent and the reader will come away with a clear understanding of how these maps can be abused either deliberately or accidentally by the cartographer. The author shows examples of very different choropleth maps using the same data that will make you skeptical of anyone who uses choropleth maps to prove a point.

Although parts of the book drag, the book is short at 150 pages so it is a relatively quick read. I wouldn't say that it is required reading, but it will help you maintain a healthy skepticism about maps that you might encounter.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful tool for mapping professionals., May 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Lie with Maps (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Although this book teaches how to manipulate maps in order to mislead an audience, it is more valuable as a reference to avoid having others do the same to you. Also of interest is the fact that mistakes are often responsible for the lie. This is a good buy for those who are involved with the creation of GIS maps (and those who view them!).

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars How to Wreck an Interesting Subject, September 15, 2004

By	doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: How to Lie with Maps (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book is not quite the treatise on fraud and deception in the world of cartography that may seem evident from the publisher's descriptions. Such examinations do appear here and there, especially with some intriguing coverage of Nazi and Soviet cartographic shenanigans. Instead this is mostly a textbook for beginning geography students on how maps are never completely realistic, and always tell lies about the real environments that they claim to depict. These range from necessary white lies on flat maps depicting the three-dimensional Earth (especially when it comes to rugged terrain or heavily clustered urban areas); to outright propaganda and militarism in political maps. More trouble arises with printing methods, color and shading, and statistical categorizations in data maps (such as those explaining census results). Thus "lying" with maps is not always consciously fraudulent, and is even required when the aim of a map is clarity and utility.

Thus Monmonier has created a rather unique textbook for those who make maps and those who use them in professional decision-making. Unfortunately Monmonier has the habit of belittling everyone who doesn't appreciate how hard cartographers really have it. He continuously degrades mapmakers as incompetent and diabolical, and map users as illiterate and ignorant, topping out in chapter 6 with "...the public's graphic naivete and appalling ignorance of maps." Personal politics abound too, such as in a description of an inaccurate map of Grenada. He constructs fictitious zoning boards and planning commissions in order to show his disagreement with the way those bodies operate. All of the maps illustrating cartographic advertising and boosterism in chapters 5 and 6 are fictitious, even though there are surely real-life examples of maps that could prove Monmonier's points, and chapter 10 devolves into interminable statistics when describing some highly esoteric problems with data (or choropleth) maps. Interested readers might find themselves as exasperated as Monmonier's geography students. [~doomsdayer520~]