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 enlarge | Author: Mark Ovenden
Creator: Mike Ashworth
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $10.50
You Save: $14.50 (58%)
New (38) Used (11) from $10.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 11662
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 144
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 9.5 x 0.5
ISBN: 0143112651
Dewey Decimal Number: 912
EAN: 9780143112655
ASIN: 0143112651
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Never Used, Very good and clean. 100% guranteed!
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| Customer Reviews:
Comments from a transit fan and a map lover December 1, 2007
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
As you can tell from the title, I was drawn to this book from two of my interests. This book is great! It gives samples of current and historical maps from transit systems all over the world, and it is a treat to look at. I have only two minor faults to find -- not enough to detract from the 5-star rating: 1. some of the maps are reproduced too small (I wish he had made the 1911 Brooklyn elevated map full page size, for example) or too dark (a Chicago transit map from the late 1940s is very hard to read) and 2. (very much my own personal taste) I wish he had included some historical maps from Philadelphia (he only has a current map of that city, one of my favorites).
One thing that does seem a bit strange: Although it is no surprise that the author, a native of London, writes in British English, it is rather odd that he seems to find it necessary to translate the *names* of American transit companies into British English, changing "transportation" to "transport" and "railroad" to "railway." Most people would, I think, leave the official names alone!
I hope the author reads this comment so he might be able to take it into account if he comes out with a revised edition -- I know this one has already been revised from the original.
 Subway maps November 29, 2007
8 out of 30 found this review helpful
This is a good collection of art work. It is not, however, a travel guide of any sort. In order to compile the maps into a reasonable sized book, the author has had to make them too small to be useful. So it's an interesting collection of cartography, but you still need to buy a guide book wherever you're going.
I love this book so much that I'd make out with it November 23, 2007
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Well, not REALLY, but if there was ever a chance of that happening, it would definitely be with this book. I don't know why it took so long for something like this to be out in the world, but I sure am happy that Mark Ovenden made it happen. The graphic design element of the book is fantastic, and it's absolutely fascinating to have all those rail routes in one book. Love this, and you will too!
[...]
a real treasure! November 21, 2007
30 out of 32 found this review helpful
If you're like me, and enjoy poring over maps, you'll find this book a treat. If all the book had were reproductions of current urban rail maps, it would be worth at least 4 stars. But there's much more. There is a short history of urban rail from its earliest days, and then you have maps and text for about 200 cities around the world. You get narratives on the history of each system, but the emphasis is on the evolution of the transit maps themselves. For some cities, up to about 20 maps are reproduced, and some of these date back to the 19th century. There's a wonderful sense of the conflict between having maps that are aesthetically pleasing and maps that are pleasing to someone trying to find their way around.
The book is divided into 6 zones (rather than chapters), with the distinction based primarily on the evolution of the maps:
zone 1: 8 cities, 4 pages per city. Example: Paris, 17 maps dating back to 1900.
zone 2: 15 cities, 2 pages per city. Example: Boston, 5 maps dating back to 1926.
zone 3: 28 cities, 1 page per city. Amsterdam, 4 maps.
zone 4: 16 cities, 2 cities per page, usually 1-2 maps per city.
zone 5: 18 cities, 1-3 cities per page, mostly 1 map per city.
zone 6: 140? cities, about 12 cities per page, often without maps, very short narratives.
The one problem you'll have is that many of the original maps were very large, and so when the transit map of Greater New York is faithfully reduced to two-thirds of a page in the book, you'll either need remarkable eyesight or a very strong magnifying glass to make out details. But the book is not intended as a catch-all way to actually find your way around, but rather as a paean to maps--you're intended to enjoy looking at the maps, not using them for transit purposes. A real delight!
An essential reference for urban rail enthusiasts November 21, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
"Transit maps of the world" by Mark Ovenden.
This unique atlas contains at least one map of every urban "mass transit" system in the world. That includes heavy rail (subways/metros), light rail, elevated rail, monorail, and even some streetcars, trams and trolleys. Suburban/commuter rail is included only for a few large cities that have no subways.
Most of the maps come from official sources. For the more important networks there are both modern and historical maps. For each city there is a broad description of the network and the metropolitan area served. But the emphasis is as much on the widely varying designs of the maps as on the transit systems that they represent. Most are diagrammatic, using straight lines rather than geographically scaled curves.
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