Dym and Offen preface this edited volume with their intention of bringing maps ‘front and centre’ to our historical inquiries and, through their book, take an important step in this direction. The book is divided into three time periods – colonial, nineteenth century and twentieth century – and with 14 themes and 57 chapters thus encompasses a great swath of time and a vast array of topics.
In their introductory chapter, a new approach to the nature and history of maps is proposed; one that examines them in relation to the societies and cultures in which they were produced and consumed, in this case to illuminate spatial processes of significance to the history of Latin America (xvi). They point out that many of the maps included in this text were excluded from the modern canon for being too ‘simple’ or ‘decorative’ and not ‘real maps’, although, as they rightfully argue, much can be learned from these maps and they should be better integrated into our regional studies.
The authors of the 57 chapters come from various disciplines, thus offering diverse perspectives and illustrating the range of interest in, and relevance of, these maps. A great deal of attention is given to maps produced in the post-1800 (independence) period, an era hitherto largely ignored by map historians. Each chapter of the book provides a textual reading of a map combined with an analysis of the place and time of its production, making for an engaging read.
Before introducing any one map, the editors begin the book with an opening chapter offering the reader some basic information on map-reading fundamentals by way of example, including a critical discussion of what maps reveal as well as what they may conceal or omit, thereby shedding light on their origin, utility and purpose. An underlying goal of this collection is undoubtedly to show how map-makers contributed to the process of producing what we think of as ‘Latin America’ (p. 3). It may come as a surprise to some that many trace the coining of the term ‘Latin America’ to indigenous roots in an effort to illustrate locals’ disdain for US hegemony in the region, rather than the more commonly cited European origins of the moniker. The introductory chapter also includes a useful discussion of the terms ‘space’ and ‘place’ as well as a section titled ‘What Is a Map?’ that provides a useful foundation for further reading, thereby increasing the appeal to scholars and non-scholars alike.
What follows is a diverse collection of map reproductions with accompanying essays, beginning with a Mayan mural from the fourth century. Maps from the colonial period are divided into six different categories: ‘Imagining a New World’, ‘Urban Society’, ‘Environment and Society’, ‘Counter Visions’, ‘Control and Defence’ and ‘Bourbon Space’. The scale of the maps ranges from the global to the local, all accompanied by insightful essays, and the maps themselves are of both indigenous and European origin. The ongoing narrative of how our knowledge of the region has evolved and diversified is presented here as a common thread that unites the different elements of the book.
The nineteenth-century maps are divided into three categories – ‘Exploration and Cartography’, ‘Bounding the State’ and ‘Order and Progress’ – that trace the emergence of nationhood throughout the region. Cartographic advances are highly evident as one reads through this section, and the visualisation of the region we now know becomes increasingly vivid.
The remaining part of the book is devoted to twentieth-century maps from five categories: ‘Imagined Communities’, ‘Urban Planning’, ‘Revolution and Resistance’, ‘Geography, Environment and Resources’ and ‘Ethnic Mapping’. This section begins with several maps highlighting the building of new national identities as well as advancing cartographic creativity, including the now ubiquitous inverted map of South America, one showing the locations of indigenous groups in Ecuador and another using arrows to show the flow of people and money between the United States and various states in Mexico. Also included in this section is a modern (1956) road map of Cuba and a subway map of Mexico City. Other maps highlighting more modern realities such as tourism, industrial parks, security issues, revolutionary movements and many others are not only highly pragmatic but fascinating to view. Other maps illuminate different state plans to control space and concentrate power, such as a map by Brazil's military regime on their planned development of the Amazon and a map of hydrologic assessment in Chile. One map near the end discusses the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to map borderlands of the Amazon. Surprisingly, this is the only map in the entire book that directly assesses the role of a GIS in mapping the region.
This compendium will appeal to a diverse array of groups, from the casual reader to the most avid ‘map geek’. However, I wish that more of the map reproductions were presented in a larger format so some of the details were more visible. The majority of the maps take up about half of the page so that much of the writing on the small-scale maps is indecipherable. The accompanying essays do an excellent job of situating each map in the appropriate political, economic and/or cultural context, and the book can thus be read in its entirety or used as a resource to shed light on a particular place and time in the region's history. As such, it would be a good addition to the bookshelves of many scholars interested in the geography or history of Latin America, clearly illustrating the power of maps.
