I am delighted to share a wonderful non-fiction book with you today. History of World Trade in Maps by Philip Parker is a fabulous book for lovers of history, trade, travel, geography and also art. Some of the detailing and artwork in these maps is amazing.

Before I get to carried away let me show you what this is about…

Synopsis…

Trade is the lifeblood of nations. It has provided vital goods and wealth to countries and merchants from the ancient Egyptians who went in search of gold and ivory to their 21st-century equivalents trading high-tech electronic equipment from the Far East.

In this beautiful book, more than 70 maps give a visual representation of the history of World Commerce, accompanied by text which tells the extraordinary story of the merchants, adventurers, middle-men and monarchs who bought, sold, explored and fought in search of profit and power.

The maps are all works of art, witnesses to history, and have a fascinating story to tell.

The maps include
• Çatalhöyük Plan, c. 6200BC
• Babylonian Map of the World, c. 600BC
• Stone Map of China, 1136
• Hereford Mappa Mundi, c. 1300
• Buondelmonti Map of Constantinople, c. 1420
• The Waldseemüller Map, 1507
• James Rennell Map of Hindoostan, 1782
• Air Age Map, 1945
• Johns Hopkins Covid-19 Dashboard, 2020

Purchase from Amazon UK (this is an affiliate link) or from your local bookshop.

My Review…

This is such a nice book to sit and flick through, which is what I have been doing over the past week or so. The book is laid out in a logical sequence and covers the major trade routes around the world that have formed over centuries.

I am not a map reader but I do appreciate the artwork that went into earlier maps. Some of which are simply stunning with detailed images, designs and some with gold leaf. Some of the maps are recognisable as being a map by what we know of today, but some look nothing like a map as they are linear and flat.

The maps are explained with easy to follow captions and also more detail is gone into as well. From early routes, C.600BC to modern-day maps you can see a progression in accuracy and also understanding. The book ends with a startling image of pandemic routes and how human movement has increased so has the movement of disease.

Wool. sheep. textile, silk, spice, tea, slavery and all manner of routes are portrayed in this book. Details of transactions, old photos and all manner of other items have been included to build up a good and very interesting read.

While this is a book of maps, it also pulls together brief histories and geologies. I really appreciate the detail in some of the maps but at times the scale is very small given the huge detail involved and I would love to have been able to see these more clearly. A magnifying glass does help to a certain extent but a larger page or a fold-out page for the more detailed maps to give a better view would have been amazing. Although overall the size of the majority of maps is very acceptable.

This is a book that lovers of history, cartography, geography and also art would really appreciate. I think it would make a great present and I know I would love to receive it, therefore I would be very happy to recommend it as it does make fascinating reading.

Here are some other images from the book…

Many thanks for reading my post, alike or share would be amazing 🙂 xx