I love maps. And this book has a ton of them from throughout the ages - along with insightful texts to go with each one. If you're into maps you'll be into this.

From a recent review:

Simply organized as a progression through time, The Map Book collects some 175 maps that span four millennia - from the famed prehistoric Bedolina (Italy) incision in rock from around 1500 B.C. to the most modern, digitally enhanced rendering. Many of the maos are beautiful works of art in their own right. From Europe to the Americas, Africa to Asia, north to south, there are maps of oceans and continents charted by heroic adventurers sailing into the unknown, as accounts spread of new discoveries, shadowy continents begin to appear in the margins of the world, often labeled 'unknown lands.'

The Map Book, edited by Peter Barber, is a historic and lavish atlas, charting the progress of civilization as our knowledge of the world expanded. The head of Map Collections at the British Library, Peter Barber, has compiled 175 maps into one volume that spans four millennia, from the famed prehistoric Bedolina (Italy) incision in rock from around 1500 B.C. to the most modern, digitally enhanced rendering.

Many of the maps are beautiful works of art in their own right, and each is historically important. The accompanying texts, written by leading map historians, are as vivid and insightful as the maps themselves.

$39.95