About book Map Addict: A Tale Of Obsession, Fudge & The Ordnance Survey (2009)
What a tremendous book. As I read the introduction and the author explained his life-long love of maps, I was chortling with laughter as I identified myself. I have not ever collected maps for the sake of it but my first action when visiting somewhere new is always to buy the map! The book explores the history of maps and much more besides and I would highly recommend it to anyone who, like me, can happily spend an hour poring over an Ordnance Survey map or lose the occasional morning to Google Earth. 10/10 I picked this book up at one of my favourite of all book stores: Stanfords (Covent Garden, London). Maps fascinate me so there was an immediate draw to this book, despite never having read anything by Mike Parker before. I wasn't disappointed.I've seen a few bad reviews of this book. These seem to be by people who wanted even more focus on maps - and less coverage, perhaps, of the author's deeply personal (and often very funny, poignant and nostalgic) relationship with maps. But that's what makes this book wonderfully entertaining. There's a ton of historical and factual information on maps themselves (particularly the UK's Ordnance Survey series of maps) so I suspect only the truly map-obsessed would find such detail wanting. What's most appealing about this book is the how well the author treats the topic of the influence and effects - be they practical or emotional - of maps on us, the map readers. I couldn't help but draw parallels (no pun intended!) to my own experiences.This was a very enjoyable read.
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Brilliant read. Thoroughly enjoyed this tome and inspired me to get out there once again.
—Sharon
interesting book about maps and the authors obsession with them
—desp3rado
