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The Library of Lost Maps
- Author
- James Cheshire
- Narrator
- Elliot Chapman
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 4 November 2025
- Run Time
- 7 hours 24 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
"A beautifully illustrated book." —The Wall Street Journal
"An enlightening and lovingly presented tribute to the necessity and wonder of libraries and archives." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A concise and engrossing study of cartographers' urge to make the world behave." —Kirkus Reviews
Join renowned geographer James Cheshire on a tour through a forgotten collection of maps that shaped over 200 years of Western history.
Tucked just beyond offices and a lecture hall in the heart of London lies a turquoise door. Intrigued, James Cheshire stepped through and was astonished by what he found inside: thousands of maps and atlases, spilling out of wooden drawers. It was a map library.
In The Library of Lost Maps, Cheshire transports us to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when the library’s maps were wielded for war and negotiated during peace; when its charts traced, for the first time, the icy peaks of the Himalayas. Maps have played a vital role in shaping our scientific knowledge of the world, inspiring the theory of plate tectonics and showing the impact of climate change. They have also guided politicians, encouraging both beneficial reforms and horrific conquests, the consequences of which we live with today.
Brimming with surprising discoveries, The Library of Lost Maps unveils the power of maps to remind us of our past and inspire us toward a better future.
Critics Review
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A beautifully illustrated book . . . The Library of Lost Maps collects and presents some of the great maps of the past for leisurely perusal. Readers needn’t travel down dusty corridors or through mysterious doors to find them. Although that does sound like fun.
The Wall Street Journal
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[An] exquisite volume . . . Cheshire not only shares his joy at digging through the archives, but also astutely charts how maps offer a new angle on historical events . . . It amounts to an enlightening and lovingly presented tribute to the necessity and wonder of libraries and archives.
Publishers Weekly, starred review
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[A] handsomely illustrated study of mapmaking . . . [Cheshire] is an infectious guide, tracing how maps evolved from hand-tinted curiosities to instruments of science, propaganda, and power . . . A concise and engrossing study of cartographers’ urge to make the world behave.
Kirkus Reviews
-
An exquisite homage to the charts that plot the way . . . The Library of Lost Maps is a beautiful book filled with vivid renderings of the maps Cheshire discusses.
The Washington Independent Review of Books
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Cheshire takes the reader on an inherently fascinating tour through a forgotten collection of maps that shaped the last 200+ years of Western history . . . Unique, special, instructive.
Midwest Book Review
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Dozens of nineteenth- and twentieth-century reproductions showcase the inventive graphics and obsessive attention to detail of pre-digital cartographers. Equally impressive are the stories Cheshire tells.
Natural History Magazine
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Cheshire describes how early map printing involved making plates from meticulously hand-drawn maps, then etching them before they were individually printed. In addition to maps, Cheshire introduces the creators of early maps and the impact of their work.
Manhattan Book Review
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Engaging, deeply satisfying and elegantly designed.
Simon Winchester, The Spectator
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The Library of Lost Maps is in one sense an act of remembrance—a rage against the dying of the light, as map libraries are shuttered and their holdings discarded or deaccessioned. It’s certainly a compelling argument against their closure. It also happens to be an absolute delight, one of the best general-interest map books I’ve read in a long while.
The Maproom Blog
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An intriguing account of a large but largely overlooked map and atlas library at University College London rediscovered by Cheshire who reveals his many and varied discoveries which touch on subjects such as border control, climate change, and ocean exploration.
Fine Books Magazine
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I finished it feeling pride in my work as a cartographer . . . and inspired to create visuals that someone may someday want to add to a library of their own. Readers should approach The Library of Lost Maps with the expectation and anticipation of great maps ahead.
North American Cartographic Society
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Cheshire found a gold mine. His discussion of it will only lead you to seek out other maps.
The Decatur Daily
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Such a delight. This handsome volume illustrates a trove of cartographic treasures from the past 200 years . . . Cheshire serves as an eloquent and witty guide to the ways our world was once charted, from the trench networks of World War I to the early gridiron layouts of New York City. Prepare to be marveled.
Air Mail Magazine
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Digging into the dusty archives of an old map library at UCL, James Cheshire unearths stories of explorers and imagined landscapes, WWII intrigue, geopolitics and social change—in this astonishingly fresh and insightful perspective into history and geography. A triumph.
Alice Roberts, author of THE COMPLETE HUMAN BODY and EVOLUTION
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A magnificent book that sings of the romance and mystery that only old maps possess. Wandering The Library of Lost Maps, I didn’t want to find my way back.
Edward Brooke-Hitching, author of THE PHANTOM ATLAS and THE MADMAN'S LIBRARY
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- James Cheshire
- Narrator
- Elliot Chapman
- Duration
- 7 hours 24 minutes
- Release Date
- 4 November 2025
- ISBN
- 9781639734306
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Historical maps and atlases
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents The Library of Lost Maps by James Cheshire, read by Elliot Chapman."A beautifully illustrated book." —The Wall Street Journal"An enlightening and lovingly presented tribute to the necessity and wonder of libraries and archives." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)"A concise and engrossing study of cartographers' urge to make the world behave." —Kirkus ReviewsJoin renowned geographer James Cheshire on a tour through a forgotten collection of maps that shaped over 200 years of Western history.Tucked just beyond offices and a lecture hall in the heart of London lies a turquoise door. Intrigued, James Cheshire stepped through and was astonished by what he found inside: thousands of maps and atlases, spilling out of wooden drawers. It was a map library.In The Library of Lost Maps, Cheshire transports us to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when the library’s maps were wielded for war and negotiated during peace; when its charts traced, for the first time, the icy peaks of the Himalayas. Maps have played a vital role in shaping our scientific knowledge of the world, inspiring the theory of plate tectonics and showing the impact of climate change. They have also guided politicians, encouraging both beneficial reforms and horrific conquests, the consequences of which we live with today.Brimming with surprising discoveries, The Library of Lost Maps unveils the power of maps to remind us of our past and inspire us toward a better future.
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