{"id":1786860,"date":"2018-12-20T14:02:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T19:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1786860"},"modified":"2020-04-06T17:06:48","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T21:06:48","slug":"all-over-the-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/12\/all-over-the-map\/","title":{"rendered":"All Over the Map"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Book<\/a>What works online does not necessarily translate very well into a book, but All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (National Geographic<\/a>, October), a very fine book from our friends Betsy Mason and Greg Miller, is strong evidence to the contrary.<\/p>\n

For the last two and a half years<\/a>, Betsy and Greg have written a blog of the same name<\/a> for National Geographic<\/em>; from 2013 to 2015 they did the same thing<\/a> with Map Lab<\/em>, a map blog for Wired<\/em>. Their background with regard to maps is similar to mine: “We are not experts in cartography or its history; we’re journalists with a lifelong love of maps who were eager to learn more,” they write in the book’s introduction.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It’s an approach that’s worked well enough for me as well: there’s something to be said for beginner’s mind<\/a>, and for approaching your subject unconstrained by what you already know. One thing I’ve noticed in more than 15 years of map blogging is how siloed<\/em> mappers are: antique map collectors, GIS pros, academic cartographers, web mappers, map illustrators\u2014they all work in their own corners, and there isn’t as much cross-fertilization between them as you might think. It may take non-specialists like us to see the big picture, because we don’t know enough about any one corner. “Maps” is too big a subject to master.<\/p>\n

In that vein, “eager to learn more” can yield real results. Those results can be awfully eclectic, and All Over the Map<\/em> is proof of that. There’s no real attempt to limit the scope of their subject: the book’s title, though borrowed from the blog, is not out of place. The book is loosely organized by theme, and those themes are themselves fairly broadly defined: “Waterways,” “Cities,” “Conflicts and Crisis,” among others; within that thin structure, we are introduced to maps of every time, place and subject: maps from early modern Europe and pre-colonial Mexico, maps of the Moon and the ocean floor, of ski hills, of rugged terrain, of enemy territory, of the flows of water and people. Online maps are reproduced with just as much care as an ancient manuscript.<\/p>\n

Turning a blog into a book works better than you might think. The essays in All Over the Map<\/em> (the book) have been substantially reworked and rewritten from their first appearance in All Over the Map<\/em> (the blog). They work well in book form, for a couple of reasons. One, Betsy and Greg are more thorough than I am: whereas my old-school type of blogging emphasizes quick links with minimal explanation, they dig further into the subject, interviewing experts and even the subject (if still living).<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In other words, they’re journalists practicing journalism. And two, the form of the book\u2014this largeish (30 \u00d7 25 cm), full-colour book\u2014allows for the maps to take proper centre stage. It flips the relationship of the web page: the text is tiny, the images large. The maps can be appreciated better this way. Astonishingly, the blog is better as a book.<\/p>\n

The maps they include are familiar, at least to me: they and I were working the same source material at the same time, and I don’t disagree with any of their choices. Not having a theme means that there is no reason not<\/em> to include an interesting map, or to include an uninteresting<\/em> map because it’s somehow important.<\/p>\n

This is as catholic, as inclusive, a collection as I have ever encountered. As an introduction to where things stand in the mapping world, to the best of what I’ve seen lately, I’d have a hard time coming up with something better.<\/p>\n

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey<\/strong><\/em><\/a>
\nby Betsy Mason and Greg Miller
\nNational Geographic<\/a>, October 2018
\nAmazon<\/a> | Bookshop<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What works online does not necessarily translate very well into a book, but All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey (National Geographic, October), a very fine book from our friends Betsy Mason and Greg Miller,… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[499,2],"tags":[30,640],"class_list":["post-1786860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs-newsletters","category-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-national-geographic"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1951,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/05\/all-over-the-map-a-national-geographic-map-blog\/","url_meta":{"origin":1786860,"position":0},"title":"All Over the Map: A National Geographic Map Blog","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"12 May 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"You'd think that National Geographic\u2019s stable of blogs would have included a map blog (I'm leaving aside Contours, a project of National Geographic Maps, which went dark in 2011),\u00a0but that apparently hasn't been the case until yesterday, with the launch of\u00a0All Over the Map, co-written by former Map Lab bloggers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs & Newsletters"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs & Newsletters","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/blogs-newsletters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1788140,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/12\/mason-and-millers-third-act-map-dragons\/","url_meta":{"origin":1786860,"position":1},"title":"Mason and Miller’s Third Act: Map Dragons","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 December 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Betsy Mason and Greg Miller started blogging about maps at Wired Map Lab (which ran from 2013 to 2015), then moved to National Geographic, where their blog, All Over the Map, provided first-rate coverage of all matters cartographic, and formed the core of their book, coincidentally also called All Over\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs & Newsletters"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs & Newsletters","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/blogs-newsletters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3667,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/12\/all-over-the-maps-best-maps-of-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":1786860,"position":2},"title":"All Over the Map’s Best Maps of 2016","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 December 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Are we already at the end of the year, and it's time for the year-in-review writeups? It is? Man.\u00a0I won't be doing one of those, but at the National Geographic map blog, All Over the Map,\u00a0Greg Miller has done so\u00a0at All Over the Map, the map blog he and Betsy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs & Newsletters"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs & Newsletters","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/blogs-newsletters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1786578,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/11\/a-book-review-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":1786860,"position":3},"title":"A Book Review Roundup","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 November 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey (National Geographic, 30 October) is the book version of Betsy Mason and Greg Miller's eponymous blog for National Geographic. Kenneth Field reviews the book on his blog; he notes that their background\u2014journalists, not map professionals\u2014makes for a refreshing perspective: \"They aren\u2019t burdened by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/all-over-the-map-book-250x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1788136,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/12\/check-out-these-other-gift-guides\/","url_meta":{"origin":1786860,"position":4},"title":"Check Out These Other Gift Guides","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 December 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"If The Map Room\u2019s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide still leaves you wanting for ideas, and the additional books in the Map Books of 2019 page don\u2019t do it either\u2014maybe you just don\u2019t want a book\u2014here are some other map-related gift guides curated by colleagues and reviewers: Over at Map Dragons,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gift Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Gift Guides","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gift-guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Book cover: An Atlas of Geographical Wonders","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/atlas-of-geographical-wonders-300x283.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3674,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/12\/national-geographic-infographics\/","url_meta":{"origin":1786860,"position":5},"title":"National Geographic Infographics","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 December 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Speaking of\u00a0National Geographic. If the magazine is known for its cartography and its photography, one should not forget the illustrations, charts and\u00a0infographics that accompany many of the articles and appear on the back of every folded map that\u00a0comes several times a year with a magazine subscription. Now there's a book\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"books\"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/tag\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ng-infographics","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ng-infographics-209x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1786860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1786860"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1786860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1788645,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1786860\/revisions\/1788645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1786860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1786860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1786860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}