An eminent historian of cartography offers this Iavishly illustrated account of the mapmaking revolution in Renaissance Europe. 78 halftones. 12 color plates.

Shortlisted for The Readings Children's Book Prize 2015 Adventure and danger lie just off the edge of the map in this swashbuckling new trilogy! Quinn's older brothers may long for adventure, but he is content with a quiet life on the farm. Destiny, however, has other plans. The King is determined to create the first map of the world and has scoured the kingdom for boys who could become mapmakers. When Quinn is chosen for the King's training school, he's amazed - but that is nothing compared to his shock when he is selected as one of the three mapmakers and finds himself on board a ship, competing for the big prize. So begins Quinn's reluctant journey deep into the unknown, on a ship captained by a slave, with a stowaway girl on board, and a mysterious sea monster that seems to be following them. Hot on their trail are the other competitors for the King's prize, who will stop at nothing to win. The Mapmaker Chronicles: Race to the End of the World is packed with action, adventure and intrigue, as Quinn battles unexpected enemies, discovers strange new lands and tries to conceal two very big secrets from his crewmates... 'Not since Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest series has there been such an exciting adventure tale from an Australian author' - Readings The Mapmaker Chronicles 1. Race to the End of the World 2. Prisoner of the Black Hawk 3. Breath of the Dragon (October 2015)

When a man with a wooden leg appears, Thomas Hawkins must leave the life he knows or chance not reaching his next birthday, which is only days away.

Quinn is back! He finished his race around the world and is living a quiet life on the family farm, until he discovers that the King's enemies want to capture him. Quinn is forced to go on the run, taking to the high seas once more. Can he survive when he is double-crossed and left for dead? BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE MAP is another thrilling adventure from A.L. Tait in the bestselling Mapmaker Chronicles.

Five children find a route through the wilderness in this exciting mountain-race adventure for middle grade readers. Sal, Joe, Francie and Humphrey misplace their famous mapmaker mother as they begin the Great Race to map a rail route through an uncharted wilderness. Their father didn't return from his last expedition and now their money is gone. This race is their last chance. They have 28 days to find and map the best route. There'll be bears, bees, bats, river crossings, cliff falls, impossible weather--but worst of all, they're racing five teams of adults who do not play by the rules.

In his classic text, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner John Noble Wilford recounts the history of cartography from antiquity to the space age. They are among the world's great pioneers and adventurers: the mapmakers who for centuries have been expanding our knowledge of who and where we are, and where we want to go. From the surprisingly accurate silk maps prepared by Chinese cartographers in the second century B.C., to medieval mapmakers who believed they had fixed the location of paradise, through to the expeditions of Columbus and Magellan, John Noble Wilford chronicles the exploits of the great pioneers of mapmaking. Wilford brings the story up to the present day as he shows the impact of new technologies that make it possible for cartographers to go where no one has been before, from the deepest reaches of the universe (where astronomers are mapping time as well as space) to the inside of the human brain. These modern-day mapmakers join the many earlier adventurers—including ancient Greek stargazers, Renaissance seafarers, and the explorers who mapped the American West—whose achievements shape this dramatic story of human inventiveness and limitless curiosity.