Power

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession episode 3: In the last of a three-part series about the extraordinary stories behind maps, Professor Jerry Brotton uncovers how maps are snapshots of a moment in history and offer visions of distant lands, tempting explorers to plunder and conquer.     However, adventurers first had to tackle the great challenge of mapping the globe […]

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession episode 2: In a series about the extraordinary stories behind maps, Professor Jerry Brotton shows how maps can reveal the fears, obsessions and prejudices of their age.     Religious passion inspires beautiful medieval maps of the world, showing the way to heaven, the pilgrims’ route to Jerusalem and monstrous children who eat their parents.

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession episode 1: Jerry Brotton shows how maps can be tools of power and snapshots of history. Henry VIII’s maps of the British coast helped him exert control over the world.     In a series about the extraordinary stories behind maps, Professor Jerry Brotton uncovers how maps aren’t simply about getting from A to B,