{"id":5319,"date":"2012-05-23T16:45:44","date_gmt":"2012-05-23T20:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2012\/05\/map_of_a_nation\/"},"modified":"2023-04-23T20:01:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T00:01:59","slug":"map-of-a-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2012\/05\/map-of-a-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Map of a Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When Rachel Hewitt\u2019s Map of a Nation<\/em><\/strong><\/a> was published in the U.K. in 2010, I despaired of ever being able to lay hands on a copy easily. A book documenting the first century or so of the history of the Ordnance Survey<\/a>, Britain\u2019s national map-making body, is not likely to have much commercial potential outside Britain: no surprise that a U.S. edition has not come out<\/del>. [Update<\/em>: A paperback edition became available in the U.S. in 2013, after this review was posted.] But I recently discovered that, like at least one other book otherwise unavailable on this continent, it is available to North Americans as an ebook (and has been for a year: see how observant I am). So spent the $10, downloaded it to my Kindle, and settled in to read a book I\u2019d heard about for years but didn\u2019t imagine I\u2019d be able to lay hands on without some effort.<\/p>\n

Inasmuch as a history of field surveying and copper-plate engraving can be made anything other than dull, Hewitt has managed to produce a narrative that fairly crackles with interest. She starts at the bloody Battle of Culloden<\/a>, not only as a way of setting the stage for the Military Survey of Scotland, a predecessor to the OS, but also as a rationale for mapping the whole of Britain\u2019s territory in the first place. From there we\u2019re led through the Scottish Highlands, joint French-British observations to measure the distance between their observatories, the triangulation of Britain<\/a> and the survey of Ireland. The narrative closes with the publication of the last maps of the First Series and the expansion of the OS\u2019s works into city maps. Along the way we get glimpses into the equipment used in the survey, such as the theodolite<\/a>, and the mapmaking process; there\u2019s a lovely section on how the OS dealt with Irish placenames, and digressions into art and poetry.<\/p>\n

It does read a bit traditionally, in the sense that it is an institutional history seen through the lens of those in charge. It\u2019s a history of those making the maps; the impact of those maps is less thoroughly covered. And if you ask me, it ends too soon\u2014just as the OS is getting started. A lot more could still be written, I think.<\/p>\n

Previously: Forthcoming History of the Ordnance Survey<\/a>; Map of a Nation: Hewitt’s History of the Ordnance Survey Is Now Available<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amazon<\/a> (Canada<\/a>, UK<\/a>) | Apple Books<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Rachel Hewitt\u2019s Map of a Nation was published in the U.K. in 2010, I despaired of ever being able to lay hands on a copy easily. A book documenting the first century or so… 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":[2,442],"tags":[30,88],"class_list":["post-5319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-surveying","tag-books","tag-ordnance-survey"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1843389,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/07\/the-map-men-visit-the-ordnance-survey-and-also-wrote-a-book\/","url_meta":{"origin":5319,"position":0},"title":"The Map Men Visit the Ordnance Survey, and Also Wrote a Book","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 July 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"Map Men Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones visit the Ordnance Survey in a (sponsored) set of two (vertically aligned short) videos: part one, part two. Complete with map-folding mishaps, gratuitous hi-viz vest wearing, and a Google Maps dig. Meanwhile, they\u2019ve also gone and written a book: This Way Up: When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Surveying"","block_context":{"text":"Surveying","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/surveying\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/this-way-up-cover.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1787347,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/05\/the-ordnance-survey-releases-a-moon-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":5319,"position":1},"title":"The Ordnance Survey Releases a Moon Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"15 May 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first crewed landing on the Moon, the Ordnance Survey has released a map of the Apollo 11 landing site. The map is based on a 60-metre digital elevation model and covers a roughly 1,350\u00d71,000 km swath of the near side at a scale\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Map of The Moon: 50th Anniversary Edition Map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/os-moon-apollo-11.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/os-moon-apollo-11.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/os-moon-apollo-11.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/os-moon-apollo-11.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":838,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/02\/the-ordnance-surveys-map-return-scheme\/","url_meta":{"origin":5319,"position":2},"title":"The Ordnance Survey’s Map Return Scheme","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"13 February 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"The Ordnance Survey is currently running a map return scheme, in which\u00a0customers send in their old maps in return for a voucher up to \u00a315. It runs until March 20, but they've already received 9,000 maps so far. (A similar scheme in 2014 yielded 10,000 maps in total.) Some of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1814126,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/04\/the-economists-interactive-history-of-the-ordnance-survey\/","url_meta":{"origin":5319,"position":3},"title":"The Economist’s Interactive History of the Ordnance Survey","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 April 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"The Economist looks at the history of the Ordnance Survey in an interactive feature that shows the progress of the first 19th-century maps across Great Britain. Of course the definitive history of the Survey\u2019s first century, as the Economist article readily allows, is Rachel Hewitt\u2019s Map of a Nation (2010),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1786628,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/11\/the-first-ordnance-survey-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":5319,"position":4},"title":"The First Ordnance Survey Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"9 November 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"The first map produced by the Ordnance Survey, their blog reminds us, was this map of Kent. Published in 1801 at the scale of two inches to one mile (1:31,680), it took three years to complete; the OS started in Kent over fears of a French invasion. As such, the\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\/11\/os-kent-1801-1024x707.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/os-kent-1801-1024x707.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/os-kent-1801-1024x707.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/os-kent-1801-1024x707.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3110,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/10\/the-map-that-came-to-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":5319,"position":5},"title":"The Map That Came to Life","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"20 October 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"As part of National Map Reading Week, the British Library's map blog points to at least one example of how map reading used to be taught. One of the most celebrated 20th century children\u2019s map reading guides is showcased in our forthcoming exhibition Maps and the 20th Century: Drawing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-map-that-came-to-life","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/the-map-that-came-to-life-1-1024x774.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/the-map-that-came-to-life-1-1024x774.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/the-map-that-came-to-life-1-1024x774.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/the-map-that-came-to-life-1-1024x774.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5319","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=5319"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1814127,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5319\/revisions\/1814127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}