Tracks on the Ocean (Hardback)
A History of Trailblazing, Maps and Maritime Travel
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A vivid history of how the marks left on maps by travellers tell the story of the modern world
'Ingenious. Caputo picks out a fascinating path and leads readers along it with the confidence of a practised pilot' Felipe Fernández-Armesto, author of 1492
'Accessible and entertaining, as well as deeply erudite and constantly mind-expanding' Philip Ball, author of How Life Works
From their first appearance on Renaissance maps, linear tracks representing maritime voyages have shaped the way we see the world. But why do we depict journeys as lines, and what is their deeper meaning? Ferdinand Magellan's route to the Pacific embodied the promise of adventure and colonisation, while the scientific charts of the Royal Navy inspired others to plan conquests, navigate treacherous waters and establish settlements across the oceans.
In Tracks on the Ocean, prize-winning historian Sara Caputo charts a hidden history of the modern world through the tracks left on maps and the sea. Taking us from ancient Greek itineraries to twenty-first-century digital mapping, via the voyages of Drake and Cook, the decks of Napoleonic warships and the boiler rooms of ocean liners, Caputo reveals how marks on maps have changed the course of modernity.
Tracks on the Ocean (Ebook)
A History of Trailblazing, Maps and Maritime Travel
Buy from
A vivid history of how the marks left on maps by travellers tell the story of the modern world
'Ingenious. Caputo picks out a fascinating path and leads readers along it with the confidence of a practised pilot' Felipe Fernández-Armesto, author of 1492
'Accessible and entertaining, as well as deeply erudite and constantly mind-expanding' Philip Ball, author of How Life Works
From their first appearance on Renaissance maps, linear tracks representing maritime voyages have shaped the way we see the world. But why do we depict journeys as lines, and what is their deeper meaning? Ferdinand Magellan's route to the Pacific embodied the promise of adventure and colonisation, while the scientific charts of the Royal Navy inspired others to plan conquests, navigate treacherous waters and establish settlements across the oceans.
In Tracks on the Ocean, prize-winning historian Sara Caputo charts a hidden history of the modern world through the tracks left on maps and the sea. Taking us from ancient Greek itineraries to twenty-first-century digital mapping, via the voyages of Drake and Cook, the decks of Napoleonic warships and the boiler rooms of ocean liners, Caputo reveals how marks on maps have changed the course of modernity.
Reviews for Tracks on the Ocean
New Statesman
Maxim Samson, author Invisible Lines
Geographical
BBC History Magazine
Katherine Parker, author Historical Sea Charts
Sujit Sivasundaram, author Waves Across the South
Philip Ball, author Curiosity: How Science Became Interested In Everything
Alastair Bonnett, author The Geography of Nostalgia
Vitali Vitaliev FRSG, author Trucks in the Garden of Eden: In Search of Britain's Utopias
Felipe Fernández-Armesto, author 1492: The Year Our World Began
Bathsheba Demuth, author Floating Coast
James Davey, author Tempest: The Royal Navy and the Age of Revolutions