Theater Of The World: The Maps That Made History, by Thomas Reinertsen Berg

This book is a classic example of why you should not judge a book by its cover. The cover of this book, both in its title and its subtitle, hints at maps that have made history and shaped the view of the world. What this book provides is either a laughably or charmingly provincial book that is written from a pointedly Norwegian perspective, befitting it being an award-winning book in Norway that won a national prize for best Norwegian nonfiction. Whether or not it deserves such a lofty title, I am not prepared to say, not knowing much about the state of Norwegian publishing (aside from the excellent works on World War II like We Die Alone, which are on another level to this one as far as significance and importance, to be sure). The author has done a lot of research, and there is a lot of in-depth information about the maps that the author chooses to talk about here. Where many readers are likely to find this book less than excellent, though, is that the author’s viewpoint is extremely narrow. He is most interested in Norwegian cartography, then beyond that to mapping that relates to Northern and Western Europe (especially Scandinavia), and then the polar nations of Russia, Canada, and so on. He is not particularly interested in geography beyond this, only making a few references to the larger world, and then only when he is talking about either ancient maps or mapping that somehow involved Norway as well as other places around the world.

In terms of its contents, this book is between 300 and 350 pages, a not-insignificant amount of writing about what end up only being a few maps, relatively speaking, among the history of geography as a whole. The book begins with a short preface as well as acknowledgements. After this the author talks about the first images of the world, looking at prehistoric maps, stories of creation, as well as maps from Mesopotamian and Egyptian ancient history. The author then turns his attention to the Library of Alexandria and the mapmaking and geographic explorations and texts that were kept by the Greeks, particularly by Ptolemy. This is followed by a discussion of the holy geography of the mappa mundi made in the Middle Ages that put Jerusalem (not without reason) at their center. After this comes a discussion of the first atlas, which involves a multi-generational effort by the families of Abraham Ortelius and Gerardus Mercator, and a detailed discussion of the business of mapmaking in early modern Europe. After this comes a discussion of maps that resulted from Norwegians on the move, Dutch nautical charts, as well as the competition over the biggest atlas by European geographers. After this comes a look at the great surveys of France, Denmark, and Norway, and the role of geographic knowledge in efforts at increasing centralized government and administration. This is followed by a discussion of polar geography and the brief age of Norwegian polar imperialism in the early 20th century, when Norway made successful claims to Svalbard and more contested claims of territory in Greenland (still controlled by Denmark) as well as Antarctica. After this comes a discussion of the economic surveys of Norway which attempted ever more granular understanding of Norway’s geography, at great cost to what the author claims is a poor country. This is then followed by a discussion of the efforts of Marie Tharp to understand the ocean floor and its bathymetry, leading to a striking confirmation of the theory of continental drift. After this comes a chapter on the digital world of satellites and mapmaking on the computer, after which the book ends with references, a list of illustrations, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

A reader of this book is going to need to have a heavy dose of patience and tolerance for the author’s focus and narrow-minded point of view, where maps that made history made history in places like Oslo and Trondheim, and to a lesser extent places like Amsterdam, London, Paris, and not much at all beyond European or Western concepts (going back to Hellenistic times, for the most part, with a heavy interest, as one might expect, in the portrayal of Scandinavia and the possibility of early travelers to Thule having been to or interviewed people who have been to Norway). One will look to this book in vain for maps that made history in India, China, or the state of mapping of Africa or Australia, except for the barest of mentions. Not all readers are likely to be indulgent with this book as I was, and I read some particularly harsh reviews about this book as I was posting that I had read this book online. I’m not inclined to be harsh, myself, as the history of Norway is something that is easy for people outside of Norway to neglect, and the visuals of the locals and foreign cartographers trudging along trying to make maps while suspicious peasants and village people fear increased taxes and reduction to their incomes as a result of greater cartographic information being widespread is a useful and worthwhile image. It is easy to think of the gain of knowledge as something impersonal, but when knowledge is increased, there are not only winners, but losers as well, and people who fear those who seek knowledge as being on the cutting edge of those who seek to dominate and control those who wish to live independently and remotely. This book is a timely reminder of the human angle of geography in more ways than one.