Map of a Nation

More praise for
Map of a Nation
:

‘In this endlessly absorbing history, Rachel Hewitt narrates the history of our printed maps from King George II’s “Scotophobic” cartographies to the
three-dimensional
computerised elevations of today … In her lively and informative narrative, Hewitt highlights the Ordnance project’s legion of draughtsmen, surveyors, dreamers and eccentrics’ Ian Thomson,
Observer

‘Hewitt tackles the subject exuberantly … the book won me over. The sweep of its history … has true grandeur, and the incidentals of the tale are like desirables found in a cluttered antique shop’ Jan Morris,
The Times

‘This is a solid account of how Britain’s national mapping agency came into being … she is good on the military, scientific and ideological impulses behind the OS and on its enormous appeal to the general public’ Ian Pindar,
Guardian

‘[A] sparkling biography of the Ordnance Survey and the people who made Britain a cartographic leader’
Sunday Times

‘[An] extremely handsome and scholarly account of the genesis of the OS map … I shall raise a pint to Rachel Hewitt and her band of map-makers’ Tom Fort,
Sunday
Telegraph

‘[A] diligent and very detailed book … she has done justice to a neglected subject and to neglected but worthy men’
Daily Mail

‘A remarkable story of human endeavour in the name of Enlightenment values’
Metro

‘[A] fascinating account of British cartography … In a compelling overview, Hewitt discusses how developments in scientific thinking, technological advances and an important dose of Anglo-French collaboration eventually led, in 1870, to the creation of the Ordnance Survey’s First Series, a landmark as significant as
The
Oxford English Dictionary
in shaping how the country thought about itself and its “physical and intellectual” landscapes’
Lady

‘An exhaustively detailed study of the life and times of Ordnance Survey maps … there are frequent nuggets of enjoyably recondite information’
Literary Review

‘A fascinating narrative … illuminates the process by which our nation redrew itself over a century’
The Times
‘Books of the Year’

‘Hewitt’s tale of cartography is pacy and – like the best historical writing – focused on human endeavour rather than dry facts’
Yorkshire Evening Post

‘A lively, well-written and carefully researched evocation of how the landscapes of Britain (and Ireland) came to be revealed with such dramatic precision’
Irish
Times

‘A celebration of the OS … While the account is sensitive to the military and governmental demands placed on the OS, the focus is on human endeavour and achievement, driven by the characters who ran the show’
Independent

‘This award-winning history of the OS in its early days reveals the chaps behind the maps’ Boyd Tonkin,
Independent i

‘This book, which is exquisitely produced as well as being an absorbing read, is bound to increase the enjoyment for anyone who loves unfolding those vast OS sheets and imagining all the green hills and the dark mountains looming upwards out of them’
Mail on Sunday

‘The success of this extraordinary work is down to the exhaustive research and accessible style of Rachel Hewitt … Hewitt tells the intriguing story of the map and the men who created it’
Caravan Club

‘Hewitt does a terrific job of recounting the trials and tribulations of the doughty surveyors and the methods they employed … we should all be proud of the Ordnance Survey and Hewitt is to be commended for telling its tale with such elegance and enthusiasm’
Geographical

‘Throughout
Map of a Nation
, Hewitt combines a sharp eye for the telling detail … with a firm grasp of the wider implications of local events … One of Hewitt’s achievements in this detailed, lively and very entertaining history is to clarify how the military aspect was only one motive for the mapping project … an impressive array of historical, geographical and technical information in vivid, readable form’
Times Literary Supplement

‘This book is a real achievement. Its account of the development of one of the nation’s vital geographical tools, the Ordnance Survey, is a powerful contribution to historical knowledge. But it is much more than a work of impressive scholarship, though it is certainly that. Rachel Hewitt has also produced a compelling story of scientific achievement, written in an arresting style, which will appeal to a wide readership. This is historical writing of a high order’ Tom Devine, author of
The Scottish Nation

‘Fascinating … Rachel Hewitt possesses the rare gift of being able to bring her subject to life. Her vivid rendition of the story of the mapping of Britain is not only a fitting and timely tribute to the unsung heroes of the early days of the Ordnance Survey; it is also a lively, absorbing, informative read that will hold the reader’s attention from start to finish’ Jeremy Harwood, author of
To the Ends of the Earth: 100 Maps that Changed the World

‘The creation of the charming one-inch OS maps, with their lovely contours and homely symbols, was not a stroll in the countryside. The heroic efforts and scientific ingenuity that went in to mapping Britain are recounted in Rachel Hewitt’s lively history which gives colour and context to an epic story’ Gavin Weightman, author of The Industrial Revolutionaries:
The Creation of the Modern World 1776–1914