Released in 2005, Google Earth provided an interactive, 3D image of the globe formed from millions of overlapping satellite photographs overlaid on a 3D digital earth. Close-up 3D details are added from aerial images that capture the depth of buildings and terrain. Essentially, the book comprises a detailed but brief history of the world from pre-historic to modern times that is illustrated by excellent maps that are highlighted by photographs of carefully chosen artifacts or scenes.

Maps don't just show us where to go, but also where we've been. A stunning overview of all human history, side by side with 140 custom maps. These days, our maps seem alive: They speak, in robotic voices, telling us precisely where to go—guided by the satellites and mapping of companies like Waze, Google, Bing and Mapquest. “There’s something fun about turn-by-turn directions,” says Greg Milner, author of Pinpoint: How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture and Our Minds. “It’s very seductive.” There’s no need even to orient yourself to north: The robot voice tells you to turn right, turn left, with you always at the center. The stars I give are for accuracy, which seems solid. Except that the “historical record” depends on artifacts or preserved written material. Grateful that the muslim arabs preserved the works of the greeks and romans for it to be “rediscovered”, and that the middle eastern desert preserved scrolls. European diseases killing 90% of the “native” population of the Americas gets a mention, but why just only a mention. Maps weren’t just symbols of power: They conferred power. With a good map, a military had an advantage in battle, a king knew how much land could be taxed. Western maps showing Africa’s interior as empty—the mapmakers had little to go on—gave empires dreamy visions of claiming Africa for themselves: All that empty space seemed, to them, ripe for the taking. Maps helped propel the depredations of colonialism, as Simon Garfield argues in On the Map.Equates socialism with the USSR. p. 234. (In fact, socialism is public schools, and all other government-provided public services. The USSR was autocracy.) This stunning visual reference book starts with the evolution and migration of our oldest ancestors out of Africa. You can then look up maps about the Greece and Persian War, the Mongol Conquests, Medieval Europe's trade routes, and the rise of the Ottomans. There are maps about the colonization of North America, the scientific revolution, Napoleon's advances, and Britain's control of India. There's more in later centuries, like the Age of Imperialism, the American Civil War, industrialized Europe, and the transformation of Japan.

This history book reaching across millennia gives you a broad view of the pivotal events in our past. With 140 maps, complimented with pictures, info boxes and timelines, there's so much to enjoy and learn about. You will gain a strong understanding of some of the forces and movements across continents that have shaped our world. This stunning history book for adults starts with the evolution and migration of our oldest ancestors out of Africa. You can then look up maps about the Greece and Persian War, the Mongol Conquests, Medieval Europe’s trade routes, and the rise of the Ottomans. Explore maps about the colonisation of North America, the scientific revolution, Napoleon’s advances, and Britain’s control of India. Then uncover the history of later centuries, such as the Age of Imperialism, the American Civil War, industrialised Europe and the transformation of Japan. The Greeks were the first known culture to apply a scientific approach to measuring and mapping the world. The philosopher Pythagorus theorized as early as the 6th century B.C. that the Earth was round. And by 200 B.C., the scholar Eratosthenes compared the angles of shadows cast simultaneously in two distant cities to accurately estimate the planet’s circumference within 1,000 miles. This was becoming the cardinal rule of maps: “No map entirely tells the truth,” notes Mark Monmonier, author of How to Lie With Maps. “There’s always some distortion, some point of view.” Local mapping became deeply granular. The British Ordnance Survey began mapping the U.K. down to the square yard, and the German entrepreneur Karl Baedeker produced similarly nuanced maps of European cities. Tourists could now confidently tour foreign realms, their annually updated guides in hand, able to locate individual buildings, much like today’s citizens peering at Google Maps on their phones. Being prominent on a local map was valuable to merchants, so mapmakers in the U.S. sold the rights. “If you paid more, you’d get your building cited,” Short notes. “It was like advertising.”

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After the Roman Empire fell, Ptolemy’s realistic geography was lost to the West for almost a thousand years. Once again, maps were concerned more with story­telling: A famous 12th-century map made by the Islamic scholar al-Sharif al-Idrisi—commissioned by his protector and patron, King Roger II of Sicily, a Christian—neatly blended Islamic and Christian cities together, while centering the world on (of course) Roger’s landholdings. The first photograph taken from the air was shot from a 260-foot-high hot air balloon in 1858. It was an inauspicious start—and that photo of a small French village was lost—but aviation would revolutionize mapmaking. From above, a photograph could gather a huge amount of data at a time, a major improvement on labor-intensive ground surveys. Farming presented as progress--no admission that it was resorted to only when the abundant game was gone.

Please note: By accepting the licence you are agreeing to the terms and conditions listed in the End User Licence Agreement (EULA). Maps are overlaid with panels of text and information-rich graphics, for a deeper understanding of each episode You've heard on "Jeopardy!" someone answer "What was the Hanseatic League" and want to know why you never heard of it before. Mercator’s projection was inspired by the accuracy of portolan maps. DEA PICTURE LIBRARY/De Agostini/ // Getty Images Visit Machu Picchu via Google Earth and hike the Inca Trail with Street View. Courtesy Google Street View

The Hereford Map represents the most common type of mappa mundi, the “T-O” map, so called because a “T” shape splits the world into three continents (Asia, Europe, and Africa) surrounded by an “O”-shaped ocean. B R O N Z E A G E C O L L A P S E 43 Invaders from the sea A relief from the temple of Pharaoh Rameses III shows captive warriors of the Peleset, one of the Sea Peoples who invaded Egypt. The Peleset later settled the Levant, where they came to be known as the Philistines.