A fascinating encounter between Swiss history and original cartography. Using very little-known maps that he researched in archives around the country, Diccon Bewes presents the most important moments in Switzerland's history, ancient and recent, in a different and innovative way. The description accompanying each map is informative, amusing and easy to read.

A tour of Switzerland through historical and contemporary maps A map is the perfect pictorial way to explain and entertain. This book achieves both of these goals and provide a detailed picture of Switzerland. Diccon Bewes' search for original maps led him through official archives and private collections. The results are presented here, along with the fascinating stories behind them: from the circular island map of 1480 to the birth of modern Swiss cartography; from the British rail plan for Switzerland to a Soviet map of Basel during the Cold-War; from the 1970s Zurich map for men to the vision of a Greater Switzerland with 40 cantons.

A Young Reader's Journey to Switzerland in Entertaining Maps. Ever heard of the Röstigraben? Did you know, Switzerland fits into Germany eight times ... but 232 times into China? Where did Ulrich Zwingli live? What does Switzerland do to combat climat change? Are cuckoo clocks really from Switzerland? Where was the Red Cross founded? This is the children's atlas about Switzerland, that answers all the questions that curious young minds might have! Learn intresting and amusing facts about this small country and its inhabitants. Exciting and current topics like the country's languages, inventions, energy consumption or tourism and much more will be brought to life with maps and infographics, making this diverse country in the heart of Europe accessible. The 20 especially made maps in this book promise a lively, entertaining and intensive journey.

A Financial Times Book of the Year and international bestseller.

The mythic creature expert and author of Phoenix takes readers through a bestiary of sea monsters featured on the famous 16th century map Carta Marina. In the sixteenth century, sea serpents, giant man-eating lobsters, and other monsters were thought to swim the waters of Norther Europe, threatening seafarers who ventured too far from shore. Thankfully, Scandinavian mariners had Olaus Magnus, who in 1539 charted these fantastic marine animals in his influential map of the Nordic countries, the Carta Marina. In Sea Monsters, mythologist Joseph Nigg brings readers face-to-face with these creatures and other magnificent components of Magnus’s map. Nearly two meters wide in total, the map’s nine wood-block panels comprise the largest and first realistic portrayal of the region. But in addition to its important geographic significance, Magnus’s map goes beyond cartography to scenes both domestic and mystic. Close to shore, Magnus shows humans interacting with common sea life—boats struggling to stay afloat, merchants trading, children swimming, and fisherman pulling lines. But from the offshore deeps rise some of the most terrifying sea creatures imaginable—like sea swine, whales as large as islands, and the Kraken. In this book, Nigg draws on Magnus’s own text to further describe and illuminate these inventive scenes and to flesh out the stories of the monsters. Sea Monsters is a stunning tour of a world that still holds many secrets for us land dwellers, who will forever be fascinated by reports of giant squid and the real-life creatures of the deep that have proven to be as bizarre and otherworldly as we have imagined for centuries. It is a gorgeous guide for enthusiasts of maps, monsters, and the mythic. “[A] beautiful new exploration of the Carta Marina.”—Wired

New updated edition of the international bestseller, featuring new statistics and a new epilogue, as well as new sections on the Swiss elections, the Swiss citizenship test and how Brexit has affected Switzerland "A great subject for a cultural anthropologist and Bewes is a perfect guide." Financial Times, Book of the Year One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million people (but only 75% of them Swiss): there's nowhere else in Europe like it. Switzerland may be hundreds of miles away from the nearest drop of seawater, but it is an island at the center of Europe. Welcome to the landlocked island. Swiss Watching is a fascinating journey around Europe's most individual and misunderstood country. From seeking Heidi and finding the best chocolate to reliving a bloody past and exploring an uncertain future, Diccon Bewes proves that there's more to Switzerland than banks and skis, francs and cheese. This book dispels the myths and unravels the true meaning of Swissness.