Customer Rating: 
Summary: Perfect present!
Comment: I bought this for my husband for Christmas and he loved it. This is a huge recommendation, as he hates to read! It is a beautiful book with gorgeous and fascinating illustrations, perfect for map collectors and history buffs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great gift for history buff
Comment: My husband loves maps and loves history. So, this seemed to be the perfect gift. As it turns out, I was correct. This is a beautiful book and lives up to the description that appears on the Amazon web site. He really is enjoying the book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Map Book
Comment: I gave this as a gift and the person who received it was thrilled with it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Photos too small to be of any value. And the Empire is dead .
Comment: Mr. Barber was apparently so taken by the idea of putting together a collection of his favorite maps that he forgot that: 1) there are already more map books on the market than you can shake a compass at and a bigger book of maps is not automatically a better book, 2) his book, like all the others, was inevitably going to suffer from the same defect, namely reproductions of maps so reduced in size as to be unreadable, and 3) putting the primary focus on maps relating to the defunct British Empire may be patriotic to his countrymen but only serves to amuse the rest of the world.
Oh, and the proofreading provided by his publisher leaves much to be desired. That is unless the Japanese actually DID attack Pearl Harbor on December 3, 1941 !
Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolutely worth the wait... finally arrived and it's stunning!
Comment: This book just arrived in the mail yesterday! Wow! I never thought I would be saying this about ANY item that takes almost three months to arrive (we are in the 21st century are we not?), but it was worth the wait. The breadth of this book's coverage is amazing - the organization by year is really interesting - you can see the progression of maps (and the dozens upon dozens of invented uses of maps). Many of the maps featured in this book seem to be rare gems. And the paper and print quality are top-notch. Best of all, this book tries to educate while it's busy pleasing the eye, asking its readers thought-provoking questions (like showing a composite satellite image and asking "is this a map"?).
More than just a coffee table book, I am excited to finally own this visual feast! Very thought-provoking... being a geek is cool again! :-)
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