History Atlas

If you’re going to travel back in time to some of the most fascinating cultures in history, it’s certainly useful to have a map to use when you get there. Fortunately, Thiago de Moraes has made a whole book of informative, beautiful and occasionally tongue-in-cheek maps featuring civilisations as diverse as the Tang Dynasty, the vast empire of Genghis Khan, the Maurya empire (what we know as north and central India), Mesopotamia, Persia and the Americas to name just a few.

In each section, Moraes presents us with a fascinating map covered in important people, places of interest and natural wonders along with a list of brief facts about the important elements of each “world”, followed by a focus on a couple of the most fascinating bits. In the Inca world, for instance, we learn about the Inca’s use of knot tying (quipu) as a method of record keeping and their mummification of the dead.

There’s a lot to learn about a great number of ancient cultures in this brilliant and attractive large board book and the humour throughout means that it’s all the more appealing – a little reminiscent of Horrible Histories, without being as bloodthirsty.