Peter Whitfield (1) (1947–)

Beautifully done. A heavy, coffee table book with glorious photos of ancient maps. Text is informative and interesting to read, but is done in my the maps. You read 10 or 20 pages and then stop to page through and examine the maps.

Disappointment in that there was only a couple of maps showing the east coast of Africa, and neither of them were detailed. A route that was heavily travelled by spice traders and even earlier people. Trade routes linked to the Great Zimbabwe pre-Christian era. The book clearly has a European focus and there is only a small section about the Chinese and their maps...almost as though they didn't exist. The maps of the oceans in the far east are recent ones, mostly WWII vintage.

So 4.0 stars for the text of what IS there, and the beautiful photos. Perhaps a 3.0 for not being more comprehensive.… (more)