The British Cartographic Society published this little book because they were “… convinced that with a little knowledge of cartography a map’s message can be communicated much better” (Foreword, p. 5). How little is the book? The maps and illustrations are postage-stamp sized. Does it impart a little knowledge? Much more than that. All of the basics are here—scale, projections, generalization, symbolization, classification, color, text, legends, and marginalia. The authors encapsulate the evolution of cartography in three pages, including space for six illustrations. They emphasize the importance of knowing the audience of and purpose for a map, and they introduce concepts of data quality and map quality.
The book is written for the lay mapmaker. The text is punctuated vigorously with exclamation marks and speaks directly, even casually, to the reader: “Maps which don’t work are often unclear, imprecise and inefficient! …But don’t worry, we hope some of the ideas and issues in cartography explained in this booklet will help you to design a better map” (p. 9). If the explanations seem too long winded, we are assured that “The impatient or harried can immediately refer to [the chapter] Better Mapping in 5, 15 and 50 Minutes” (p. 60).
In its appeal to the lay audience, the book employs visual design gambits from other media: the running page footer is reminiscent of a TV news screen crawl, while the “did you know…?” balloons and useful tip boxes would be pop-up text in an online guide. Typically, unfamiliar terms and acronyms should be defined at first use, but the GIS acronym is used at the top of page 8, expanded to “Geographical Information Systems (GIS)” at bottom of page 8, and is at last defined on page 21. Similarly, cartograms are referred to on page 8, defined on page 15, and finally illustrated on page 33. I would guess that these rules were waived in the name of nontechnical, breezy writing, but it is perhaps a little too breezy for an introduction.
One strength of the book is the variety of maps shown. There are snippets of antique maps, political maps from contemporary world atlases, navigation charts, geological maps, Ordnance Survey maps, a subway map, a walking map, and imagery; all are miniaturized nicely. In addition, the second author enriched the book with numerous contributed illustrations; most notably, a 4 x 8 cm cartogram of population for the world.
Organizing the technical and conceptual body of topics in such a short volume must have been a challenge. The authors developed five sections: “An Introduction to Cartography,” “Some Map Basics, Issues in Producing Good Maps,” “Designing Better Maps,” and the twopage “Tips for Improving Your Maps.” Separating basic precepts from design forced some artificial breaks in the flow of information about certain topics, for example, color, symbolization, and GIS technology. But even that separation is not clean; conceptual content (know your audience, what makes for good map design, integrity in data representation) is found in the midst of technical topics. Still, in 64 pages, it’s easy enough to find all that the book has to offer on a given topic.
In summation, the maps and illustrations are notable, and the book content is up-to-date and satisfyingly complete. The price is so reasonable that I would buy several; one to keep and one to lend, but over-40 readers should factor in the cost of a magnifier.