The book provides an equal balance of influential articles from the past and current commentaries which highlight their impact and current context. Read in combination the original ‘classic’ articles and these new reflective essays demonstrate how cartography works as a powerful representational form and explores how various different aspects of mapping practice have been conceptualized by an influential set of academic researchers.

• Collates ‘classic’ articles from four decades of the journal Cartographica
• Brings key articles up-to-date with contemporary interpretative essays by the leading scholars in mapping research
• Themes covered are the epistemological of mapping practice, the ontological underpinnings of cartographic representation, and the contested societal implications of maps
• Evaluates the progression of the field of cartographic research and demonstrates how new theoretical ideas originate, develop and circulate
• Provides a signpost for students and new researchers on the key articles in cartography to read and reflect upon