{"product_id":"9780008598884","title":"Map Addict: The Bestselling Tale of an Obsession","description":"\u003cp\u003e'My name is Mike and I am a map addict. There, it's said…'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaps not only show the world, they help it turn. On an average day, we will consult some form of map approximately a dozen times, often without even noticing: checking the A-Z, the road atlas or the Sat Nav, scanning the tube or bus map, a quick Google online or hours wasted flying over a virtual Earth, navigating a way around a shopping centre, watching the weather forecast, planning a walk or a trip, catching up on the news, booking a holiday or hotel. Maps pepper logos, advertisements, illustrations, books, web pages and newspaper and magazine articles: they are a cipher for every area of human existence. At a stroke, they convey precise information about topography, layout, history, politics and power. They are the unsung heroes of life: Map Addict sings their song.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are some fine, dry tomes out there about the history and development of cartography: this is not one of them. Map Addict mixes wry observation with hard fact and considerable research, unearthing the offbeat, the unusual and the downright pedantic in a celebration of all things maps. In Map Addict, we learn the location of what has officially been named by the OS as the most boring square kilometre in the land; we visit the town fractured into dozens of little parcels of land split between two different countries and trek around many other weird borders of Britain and Europe; we test the theories that the new city of Milton Keynes was built to a pagan alignment and that women can't read maps. Combining history, travel, politics, memoir and oblique observation in a highly readable, and often very funny, style, Mike Parker confesses how his own impressive map collection was founded on a virulent teenage shoplifting habit, ponders how a good leftie can be so gung-ho about British cartographic imperialism and wages a one-man war against the moronic blandishments of the Sat Nav age.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMike Parker's Map Addict is a non-fiction book that combines science, humour, and travelogues to provide a unique perspective on geography and culture. His essays are both historical and social, making this a popular choice among readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor fans of Mark Wallington (The Day Job), Tom Bullough (Sarn Helen), General Press (As a Man Thinketh), Gavin Ortlund (Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn't), and Tim Hannigan (The Granite Kingdom).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHarperCollins 2023\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mike Parker, Read by Mike Parker","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46889047556245,"sku":"9780008598884","price":49.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780008598884_b499484b-fc54-4c2d-a6d3-4cc590b841ca.jpg?v=1776888288","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780008598884","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}