‘This striking study . . . lavishly illustrated . . . stuns’ – Publishers Weekly

‘A true genius of cartography . . . Radical Cartography will make you see maps, and, indeed, your place on the planet, with fresh eyes’ – Daniel Immerwahr, author of How to Hide an Empire

Maps are everywhere. They can change how cities are designed and how rivers flow, how wars are fought and how land claims are settled, how children learn about race and how colonialism becomes a habit of mind. Maps don’t just show us information – they help construct our world.

Cartographer and historian William Rankin argues that it’s time to reimagine what a map can be and how it can be used. Maps are not neutral. They are innately political, defining how the world is divided, what becomes visible and what stays hidden, and whose voices are heard.

Brimming with vibrant, radical maps created by Rankin and by other cutting-edge mapmakers, Radical Cartography challenges the map as a tool of the status quo. Changing our maps can change the questions we ask, the answers we accept – and the planet we build.

A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘The bothy embrace is addictive’ ADAM NICOLSON

‘Will have you reaching for your boots’ CAL FLYN

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A bothy is a remote hut in the wilderness that you can’t reserve, with no electricity, mod-cons or running water. The doors are always unlocked, you just need to step inside.

From the rugged cliffs at the northern tip of Scotland to the fairy-tale valleys of Wales, historian Kat Hill tours us across the UK exploring the history of these wild shelters and her fellow wanderers – past and present.

Bothy is a stirring, beautiful book for anyone who longs to run away to the wilds

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‘A thoughtful exploration of what these remote outposts mean to their users’FINANCIAL TIMES

‘A beguiling combination of travel writing, nature writing, social history and personal reflection’DAILY MAIL

‘A perfectly timed narrative history ? No one who crosses the Channel can fail to learn from, and enjoy, this original and absorbing book.’ – Patrick Marnham

It was half a million years ago that Britain first parted from Europe. As ice melted, water smashed through the chalky land bridge that separated Britain from the continent of Europe, forming what we now know as the English Channel, and what the French call La Manche. The second parting, far from being a force of nature, was the choice of Britain’s islanders disillusioned with continental rule.

In The Busy Narrow Sea, Robin Laurance tells the story of the people whose lives have become entwined over the centuries with this iconic seaway, presenting a broad sweep of carefully researched historical fact lightened with a host of colourful anecdotes. This diverse tale covers artists captivated by its light; writers inspired by its power; tunnellers relishing its challenges; entrepreneurs turning fishing villages into smart resorts; smugglers ruling and adventurers conquering the waves; and much more besides, from Napoleon through the Second World War and into the modern day.

Visionary Oxford professor Ian Goldin and The Economist’s Tom Lee-Devlin show why the city is where the battles of inequality, social division, pandemics and climate change must be faced.

From centres of antiquity like Athens or Rome to modern metropolises like New York or Shanghai, cities throughout history have been the engines of human progress and the epicentres of our greatest achievements. Now, for the first time, more than half of humanity lives in cities, a share that continues to rise. In the developing world, cities are growing at a rate never seen before.

In this book, Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin show why making our societies fairer, more cohesive and sustainable must start with our cities. Globalization and technological change have concentrated wealth into a small number of booming metropolises, leaving many smaller cities and towns behind and feeding populist resentment. Yet even within seemingly thriving cities like London or San Francisco, the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen and our retreat into online worlds tears away at our social fabric. Meanwhile, pandemics and climate change pose existential threats to our increasingly urban world.

Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin combine the lessons of history with a deep understanding of the challenges confronting our world today to show why cities are at a crossroads – and hold our destinies in the balance.

‘Will have you reaching for your boots’ CAL FLYN

The door to the bothy is always unlocked, you just need to step inside.

You will find them in the mountains. You will find them in the wilderness. A bothy is a remote hut you can’t reserve, with no electricity, mod-cons or running water. And it’s here you’ll find Kat Hill – kettle on, feet up and pen out.

Leading us on a gorgeous and erudite journey around the UK, Kat reveals the history of these wild mountain shelters and the people who visit them. With a historian’s insight and a rambler’s imagination, she lends fresh consideration to the concepts of nature, wilderness and escape. All the while, Kat weaves together her story of heartbreak and new purpose with those of her fellow wanderers, past and present.

Writing with warmth, wit and infectious wanderlust, Kat moves from a hut in an active military training area in the far-north of Scotland to a fairy-tale cottage in Wales. Along her travels, she explores the conflict between our desire to preserve isolated beauty and the urge to share it with others – embodied by the humble bothy.

Bothy is a stirring, beautiful book for anyone who longs to run away to the wilds.