Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities

If you regularly read the Strange Maps blog and want to support Frank Jacobs with a few bucks, then this is the way to go. The book compiles the blog entries with nice large photos and un-cluttered text. However, if you're like I am, and like to look things up on the internet as you read about them, the experience of reading one of Frank's stories on the web is vastly different than reading it in a book. The book doesn't add anything to the content already on the web, and you miss out on the links to original sources and cross-references to other Strange Maps stories. If you or someone you know likes well-researched and engaging anecdotes about maps combined with the experience of reading such things in a book, then this one's for you. But if you just want to see some cartographic curiosities and pick up a factoid or two along the way, then perhaps the Strange Maps blog should be your first destination. Then you can decide whether it's worth is to shell out some money to have print copies of all the wonderful maps Frank has collected.

I was very disappointed with this book. Actually hard for me to admit in that I usually love all things cartographic. The first deducted star is because even though using a 9.5 X 11 inch format, some of the maps are as small as 3 X 4 inch. And most of these having writing on them which I would LIKE to know what it says. Add a stout magnifying glass to your order. Come on, modern printing technology can easily enlarge almost anything without it turning into pixels and dots. Eliminating some of the HUGE margins could have easily allowed for 1 page of words and the other page a map. Second star deducted because I was expecting more actual historical mappage, real stuff even if it was wrong. But there's significant amount of pages dedicated to fairy tale maps and art paintings which bear the word "map" in their name, but are actually nothing of the sort. Third star deducted because some things aren't even maps, I.e., a smear of jam near a butter knife which resembles vaguely a continent and an omelet or something similar which is said to look like a country. A more accurate title for some of the book would be, "Random Objects Which Look Like A Map." That said, between the many uninteresting and/or unrelated entries, there are several good maps and bits of interesting info. So the book IS worth 2 stars for a used copy only.

This is a fun and fact filled book about weird maps. Some are historical, some fantastic, some artistic, some political, some...well just weird.Personally, I enjoyed the historical maps myself. But there's something for everyone here. Now, yes, this book is so eclectic that's it's unlikely you will like everything. "Skip on a bit, brother."You will get a chuckle or two and maybe even learn something.

I bought Strange Maps for a gift for my dad who LOVES maps. Since it is a larger format book, the images are large enough to view easily enough. While my dad is not the "reading type" and this book has a lot of text to go along with the maps, he couldn't wait to get started on reading it.

I ordered this book as one of two books about maps to give as Christmas gifts to a man who reads books about maps for sheer entertainment. I am truly glad to have this book as one of several I have given him over the years. Actually, I am glad I ordered it early so I could read it before passing it on to someone else. :)

Terrific collection of -- just as it says -- strange maps, from the eponymous website. A few are deliberately offbeat, but most appear to be entirely serious in intent.. The mapped regions go from Manhattan to the largest moon of Saturn, and the topics mapped from straight (sort of) geography to French kisses. Any map devotee will love this one, and it will also appeal to devotees of the unusual. Great Xmas gift for the right person

Purchased this as a gift for my Dad...an avid lover of maps both strange and normal. He loved it and I looked through it before I gave it to him and I loved it. I am thinking of getting a copy for myself now. There are so many different kinds of maps from everything you could imagine. Definitely a win for any map or history or literature lover

Honestly, I was disappointed with this book. It focuses too much on explaining the maps when the point of maps is to allow the user to figure out the meaning behind the maps. Maybe I didn't like the book because I had already seen the maps while browsing the web; but it didn't seem all that creative of a book. If you seek out maps because you enjoy looking at unique maps then you might want to find a book with maps that you can't find with a simple Google search. If you need an introduction to strange maps, then it might be worth your money. For the seasoned nerd, however, you might want to keep looking...

Exiting reading

Fabulous....funny....ironic.....an historical collection of amazing early maps and cartographical directions and descriptions, from times when most land mass was anyone's guess. A wonderful gift for the map enthusiast and great a great addition to any library. Suits all ages. Highly recommended!

Great book.

El libro queda muy corto en su intención de mostrar mapas interesantes. Se siente un ejercicio amateur, más que una obra de recopilación seria. Lo más decepcionante es la calidad de las impresiones, que ayudan mucho a deslucir la obra.

Wer Landkarten liebt, wird sich freuen.Erstaunlich, was allen in Karten dargestellt werden kann.Mein Favorit: World Tube Map - Oslo - Pjöngjang ohne umsteigen.Wer mehr braucht, findet Nachschub auf der Website.