Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession

In a series about the extraordinary stories behind maps, Professor Jerry Brotton uncovers how maps aren't simply about getting from A to B but are revealing snapshots of defining moments in history and tools of political power and persuasion. Professor Jerry Brotton shows how maps can reveal the fears, obsessions and prejudices of their age.

• Ep 1

  1.Windows on the World

  18-04-201045m

  Visiting the world's first known map, etched into the rocks of a remote alpine hillside 3,000 years ago, Brotton explores how each culture develops its own unique, often surprising...

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• Ep 2

  2.Spirit of the Age

  25-04-201045m

  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. But by th...

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• Ep 3

  3.Mapping the World

  02-05-201045m

  Maps offer visions of distant lands, tempting explorers to plunder and conquer. However, adventurers first had to tackle the great challenge of mapping the globe onto a flat surfac...

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