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Tracks on the Ocean

A History of Trailblazing, Maps and Maritime Travel

Sara Caputo

Description

Tracks on the Ocean is a vivid history of how the marks left on maps by travellers tell the story of the modern world.

From their first appearance on Renaissance maps, linear tracks representing maritime voyages have shaped the way we see the world. But why do we depict journeys as lines, and what is their deeper meaning? Ferdinand Magellan's route to the Pacific embodied the promise of adventure and colonisation, while the scientific charts of the Royal Navy inspired others to plan conquests, navigate treacherous waters and establish settlements across the oceans.

Sara Caputo charts a hidden history of the modern world through the tracks left on maps and the sea. Taking us from ancient Greek itineraries to twenty-first-century digital mapping, via the voyages of Drake and Cook, the decks of Napoleonic warships and the boiler rooms of ocean liners, she reveals how marks on maps have changed the course of modernity.