Map Addict

I just finished reading Map Addict by Mike Parker.

"My name is Mike and I am a map addict. There, it's said!"

Like me, Mike has loved maps since he was a wee tyke. He became addicted the Ordinance Survey, the official map set published by the British government, covering every square inch of the island nation. Today he is a travel writer and television and radio personality.

In his book, he not only shares the story of his personal journey with maps, but he also includes chapters on the history of British cartography, how they won the Prime Meridian competition, the most interesting and boring maps, and wages a one-man war against the "moronic blandishments of the Sat Nav age."

Not too surprising, I enjoyed this book immensely. My only complaint is that for a book about maps, there are relatively few illustrations.

So, as if the fact that this book is about a map addict, one who is more of a fanatic than me (hard to believe), wasn't enough to recommend this book... When I finished, I browsed the Bibliography and found in the "Blog and Discussion" section, several map blogs with which I am familiar... and this!

Cartophilia "great blog, newsy and always thoughtful"

Sweet! I have been acknowledged in print! I am somebody.