In this concise introduction to the history of cartography, Norman J. W. Thrower charts the intimate links between maps and history from antiquity to the present day. A wealth of illustrations, including the oldest known map and contemporary examples made using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), illuminate the many ways in which various human cultures have interpreted spatial relationships.

The third edition of Maps and Civilization incorporates numerous revisions, features new material throughout the book, and includes a new alphabetized bibliography.

Praise for previous editions of Maps and Civilization:

“A marvelous compendium of map lore. Anyone truly interested in the development of cartography will want to have his or her own copy to annotate, underline, and index for handy referencing.”—L. M. Sebert, Geomatica

诺曼·思罗尔生于1919，先后求学于美国弗吉尼亚大学和威斯康星大学，于1958年获地理学博士学位。他于1957年始执教于加利福尼亚大学地理系，直至1990年退休。1981年后的六年，他还兼任大学的图书馆馆长，在其任内，“17-18世纪研究中心”得以建立。1973-1975年，他任“发现史学会”的主席，他还创办了加利福尼亚地图协会。1962年，他获古根汉姆奖，1993年得到西班牙国王KING JUAN CARLOS的ORDEN DEL MERITO CIVIL一等十字勋章，1997年得到国际地图收藏协会的HELEN WALLIS奖，1999年获加利福尼亚大学的最富创造力的终身教授奖。