The Rise and Fall of the National Atlas in the Twentieth Century: Power, State and Territory

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Between 1900 and 2000, more than seventy countries produced a national atlas, an official or quasi-official rendering of the nation-state in maps and accompanying text. This book considers the reasons behind and characteristics of this state-sponsored cartographic explosion. These national atlases mirror and embody some of the important themes of this turbulent century, including the complex connections between nation, state and territory, the rise of state-sponsored science; the growth of nation-states; colonialism and postcolonialism; and the geography of biopolitics.

Reviews

A highly significant work not only for cartographic studies but also for historians of nationalism. Properly wide-ranging and clearly argued, this important work deserves much attention. Jeremy Black, author of Maps and History.

The book is an engaging discussion of the history and the histories of national atlases around the world. By using abundant visual material, the author delivers a cartographic tour-de-force to point out connections between nation-state, territory, and maps in the twentieth century. Jorn Seemann, Professor of Geography, Ball State University, USA.

This compelling new history shows how nations used the power of maps to advance their interests. Shorts wide-ranging survey spans the globe in an era of rising and falling empires, global warfare, and expanding economies. It reveals how modernizing states pictured themselves to the world with cartography. Dr. S. Max Edelson, Department of History, University of Virginia, USA.

Short (Univ. of Maryland) explores how various aspects of national atlasesfrom the classic representation of physical space to the more recent theme of biopoliticshelp show what the governing bodies of those nations felt was important about their citizens. His discussions of the significant roles that atlases play in nations' identities and what national atlases show about the state of the world at particular historical moments are especially interesting. It makes effective use of illustrations to explain various aspects of national atlases and is overall logically organized and readable. An excellent introduction to national atlases and their place in history.Highly recommended.W. J. Rafter, West Virginia University Libraries; Choice

In this path-breaking, clearly written and altogether delightful read, John Rennie Short utilizes a critical-theory approach to address the production and content of national atlases as instruments of statecraftinterrogating connections between nation-state, science, territory and power.[] With this account, which is at times perhaps too breezy and informal but always engaging, Short provides what I personally hope will become a provocative statement on national atlases. Imago Mundi, The International Journal for the History of Cartography

The book clearly delivers a review of how cartography has been used to show how states see themselves in the world. Maps, charts, and figures have been used to make comprehensible truly vast amounts of societal datadata that is ever more detailed and expanding. The author, to his credit, does an excellent job in reviewing the effectiveness of the presentation of data via these techniques The Portolan

Author Bio

John Rennie Short is a professor in the School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has published widely in a range of journals and is the author of fifty books.