Old book, new format

A small parcel arrived today containing four copies of the paperback edition of Rethinking Maps. The original cover was simply a plain blue. They've given the paperback a makeover. I have to say I like it. Simple but strong. It looks better in real life than the thumbnail right. It's also a hell of a lot cheaper. The hardback was strictly a library buy. Sales though must have been okay for them to re-issue in paper two years after the original publication. Available anywhere they sell books. Here's links to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com where you can look inside.

Rethinking Maps

A copy of my new book, Rethinking Maps, edited with Martin Dodge and Chris Perkins both at the University of Manchester also turned up in the post this week. The book examines the diverse ways in which maps are now produced given new technologies (including GIS, Sat-Nav, LBS, GPS, remote sensing, Web 2.0 applications), and new ways of thinking about the ontological and epistemological bases of cartography.

Traditionally maps are conceived as portraying the truth of spatial relations of the world. In the book, the contributors consider maps as social constructs, as inscriptions, as proscriptions, as actants, as practices (there are no maps only mappings), seeking to re-imagine the theoretical underpinnings of cartography and how it is philosophically constituted. Page proofs of the opening chapter are available here.

At 80 GBP it’s an absolute bargain! We’re now working on a collection for Wiley – The Map Reader - that will bring together some of the most influential articles concerning how to think about maps published over the 70 or 80 years.


(To paraphrase Rene Magritte) Ceci n'est pas une carte - This is not a map. Discuss ...