This engaging collection of maps offers a fresh perspective on global history. While some of the maps may be familiar, many are lesser-known gems that provide unique insights into past events. The accompanying commentary is informative and accessible, making the book enjoyable for both casual readers and history enthusiasts.

The variety of maps included in the book was wonderful. It was interesting to compare the maps shown to what information I am usually presented with. As a teacher, I know that maps have changed over time and can easily be skewed to the creator's perspective. It was still interesting to read about this collection of different maps.

As a geography graduate this was an interesting read and definitely went into concepts, history & stories I had not been familiar with prior to reading this. I felt though that there was no real correlation between the types of maps that were selected or even a specific type of order - which I guess is fine since they are meant to be maps which change how you see the world as opposed to about a specific topic - i just wish there was a bit more cohesion to it!

I believe that being a citizen of United Kingdom, Alastair must learn more on history than geography when writing such books. Such collation of data about countries you knew rarely about or the history that they have lived for ages shouldn't be put forth like its a back of your hand. Ironically a UK citizen is showing guts to mention that Kashmir is not an integral part of India and that too based on merely Google Maps not knowing how those from British rule just broke one beautiful peaceful country but putting lines on map and separate one big part from it apart in the name of racism and hate towards indigenous people's religion.

Most of the Maps were merely copy-paste of archived scanned images and unnecessary data mentioned here to give non-proliferation in value to the context alongside. this seems like author just wanted to add merely one more published work in his name so that in coming time he will be counted as more prominent as not most want to go through what scrap he had collated. I really doubt his research because mostly are either incomplete or half truth.

I would like to highlight one such example from "Map 20 : Kashmir for Google users in India versus Kashmir for Google users outside India, 2024"

At first, I'm quoting as is from book then will explain why I had written what I did in first 2 paras of my review to start with.

"Kashmir is a country of snow-white mountains and wide green valleys that should be full of tourists but is full of soldiers. It sits at the top of India and the eastern side of Pakistan. In both countries, Google’s share on the mobile search engine market is almost a hundred percent. These maps matter. The bottom one shows us what Google Map users in India see. It portrays the whole of Kashmir, not just the bit that is actually administered by India, as if it were under Indian control. The top map is what you see if you’re a Google Map user living in Pakistan, or anywhere else, and is more complex. It has a lot of dotted lines, which indicate disputed lines of control, in this case not just between Pakistan and India but also China, which claims and controls the dotted zones on the eastern side of the map. One of those dotted lines – the one that marches out across the middle of the territory – is so uncertain that it appears to give up. It stops, paralyzed by worry, in a high, cold nowhere, or more precisely in a frozen slope in the Himalayas, which separate Kashmir from China.

What neither map shows us is that plenty of people in Kashmir don’t want to be in India, Pakistan or China. They want to be in a country called Kashmir. It’s an unlikely prospect, given how much national pride Kashmir’s neighbours pour their way. Kashmir is one of the most militarized places on Earth. Hundreds of thousands of troops keep it in a vice-like grip and there are continuous skirmishes and bouts of violence. Thousands of civilians have been killed and, currently, there is little sign of peace. In 2019, India reinforced its claim on the parts of Kashmir that are under its control (which is most of the southern half) by getting rid of the political autonomy the region once enjoyed and governing it directly from New Delhi."

Now coming back to the explanation behind all this propaganda, as I highlighted before this quotation from book.
Author must know that Kashmir is an Integral part of India and what was called as POK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) is something which was taken away from India due to the British boot-lickers like Nehru who happened to be unfortunate first PM of India. He made sure to appease the Muslim Minorities of India for the votes in then coming elections, first in Independent India (1950 Elections) and gave hold of area (now POK) to Pakistan by giving it's case to UN and a special entitlement to India's Kashmir to favor his bloodline Sheikh Abdullah so that it can never become part of India fully and those radical Islamists can easily enjoy their regime as PM of the place but thanks to incumbent GOI it was removed in 2019 constitutionally and hence now in 2024 after maintaining proper peace and from the POV of development and tourism, Legislative Assembly Elections also going to commence in Sep'24 end to 1st oct'24. By this the claim of author that plenty of People in Kashmir do not want to live in India is also nullified. I suggest he should visit some factual articles on current situation or I'll let travel with me personally to showcase the reality which is way better and different than he claim otherwise and on how Kashmir transformed in terms of economic structure and tourism between 2019 and 2024 he must go through Statistics on the same (as I do not post confidential data here but are publicly available to read online on Govt. websites).
There is a massive increase in tourism where it 1.62 Cr. in 2019 and in 2023 it reached 2.11 Cr. annual tourists. If the decision of GOI is not good as author claimed by interfering in the internal matters of the country, then how come this place became safe eventually and people from all over world start visiting it? Also, why GOI is by making it safe also ensuring better earning options for the natives by giving huge budget for industries and civil infras?
To conclude, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK), a fundamental part of the original Kashmir region, which has been illegally occupied with the aid of Pakistan since 1947 keeps no value basis on 'Google Map outside India'.

Author here seems to me as biased against India and majorly wants to put forth the theory which earlier planned by British rule under Churchill and way back too, to divide this nation inside-out. Ironically whole of their island nation is surviving from the looting their ancestors did from India else they would have been vanished from world map then and today no one is there to write with racism and biasing on rest maps of the world.

And yes, Author must read and write on the imaginary line which divides Israel from Palestine but exclusion of it shows enough of his crumbled mindset.

Conceptually this was cool, but most of the maps were really modern and also I couldn’t read the informative pages bc the font was too small and couldn’t be expanded.

Some of the maps and commentaries are much more interesting than others, and many can indeed change how one sees the world. You can tell the author loves his subject and he does it justice. I wish there were more historical maps in the beginning before going over to modernity, since that felt like his strong point.

I found this book very interesting! I took my time with it, exploring just a few maps each day to fully appreciate and absorb the information presented. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in seeing the world from a fresh perspective, learning about unfamiliar regions, or gaining insight into aspects of life that might not be part of your daily experience. The only negative thing I could say about the book is the font. The letters were too small and light. I read it on my iPad, and I had to really zoom in a lot to be able to comfortably read without getting headache.

This reference guide of maps has a little something for everyone. From mappings created in ancient times to mapping done in the 2020's, this book covers everything from Olympus Mons on Mars to the walkability of different blocks of New York City for women.

While the maps are appealing, both visually and informationally, the text can be somewhat dense for readers to get through. I do believe that someone with a genuine interest in either cartography or understanding things using a visual perspective will truly enjoy this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alastair Bonnett, and Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Interesting selection of maps that made history, some popular in pophistory, but most maps listed I had never heard of. Was expecting something different however was not disappointed with what I got. Unique addition to our history section

This book did exactly what it said did - changed my perspective on the world with maps. I found this book fascinating and great read. Perfect for anyone who is interesting in history, geography, or maps in general.

I've seen a lot of "maps that will change how you see the world" articles, and I always think they're so interesting, and this book was no exception. I love the collection of different maps showing different topics that really do make you think about the world in different ways. I would have loved to see more historical maps, since that's not something that usually shows up in these types of lists.

This book is so interesting! I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s not just geographical maps either. I especially loved the New York City one about women’s safety. Would highly recommend.

The title is accurate and appropriate; indeed, reading this book changes your perspective.
I am fan of the site (are we allowed to say such things) of Catalhoyuk and it was nice to find out more about it.
This non-fiction book is like the Unsolved Mysteries maps version. Intriguing, informative and engaging.

4 stars - an interesting selection of maps, each of which is explained in enough detail to make you think about what they represent. Some of the images included surprised me, perhaps stretching the definition of maps, but they were interesting despite this. Highlights for me were the Walkability for Women map and the maps of aromas and noise, as I hadn't seen these represented in this manner before, and I appreciated the descriptions for each of them. Each of them was clearly well-researched and many of them inspired curiosity.