From the frivolity of the Millennium Dome's original contents, to the 'map that saved London', this book has it all.
Maps can be so much more than tools for navigation. They can help us peer into the city's history, ponder where we might choose to live, or simply serve as humorous works of art. Modern London Maps, by Vincent Westbrook collects together dozens of eye-popping examples.
The word 'modern' is a little fuzzy here. The book's subtitle suggests a trove of 20th century maps, but we also find plenty from the 19th and 21st. All the better, because it means we get to see such classics as the hyper-detailed Goad Insurance Map of 1886, Charles Booth's poverty map, and John Leighton's thought-provoking hexagonal maps of London from a little later. Bringing things up to date, the book ends with some truly modern wonders, including works from the two masters of the arty-map, Adam Dant and Stephen Walters.
Sandwiched between is a chunky and nutritious filling of cartographic splendour. Just to pick a few, we find the processional route of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation, Patrick Abercrombie's plans for redeveloping London after the war, and several entries from the great MacDonald Gill, who created intricate, cartoonish maps of London a century before Adam Dant. Naturally, we also find Harry Beck's Tube map, as well as a more loopy version that preceded it. Each is accompanied by a short introduction by the author, who places the image in the context of its time.
Maps, we learn, can even save lives — and ways of life. The Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge preserves the table map used by the RAF during the Second World War. This plan of south-east England was used to coordinate the defence of the realm during its greatest peril. It's wonderful to see this included alongside the gentler cartography of the 20th century.
A limitation of any book of maps is the scale. This hardback is a mighty size, but even it cannot show some of the maps at legible resolution. The author and editors have done an excellent job of focussing on charts that work to best advantage in the limited medium. Some maps are still at an unreadable scale, but we still get a sense of their overall beauty and draughtsmanship. The interested reader is then encouraged to seek out the originals, most of which came from the London Archives in Clerkenwell, and are freely accessible to the public.
This is a beefy book of maps, with so many delicious words and pictures that we could do with a custom-map to navigate them all. Best just throw yourself in and enjoy the ride. Maps are the most beautiful way to get lost.
Modern London Maps by Vincent Westbrook is out now from Batsford. Buy direct from the publisher, or via our Bookshop.org link (which sources from independent bookshops and gives us a tiny commission).
Like this? Then you might also enjoy our own award-winning compilation of artistic maps, Londonist Mapped.
