Product Description

Transit Maps of the World is the first and only comprehensive collection of historic and current maps of every rapid-transit system on earth. Using glorious, colorful graphics, Mark Ovenden traces the history of mass transit-including rare and historic maps, diagrams, and photographs, some available for the first time since their original publication. Transit Maps is the graphic designer’s new bible, the transport enthusiast’s dream collection, and a coffee-table essential for everyone who’s ever traveled in a city.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8906 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Review
"Ovenden does what no other design history book has ever done. Transit Maps of the World is a must-have"
—The New York Times Book Review 

  "Fantastic"
—LA Times

"The perfect book"
—USA Today

  “pure catnip"
—William Grimes, The New York Times 

   "This book is the stuff that dreams are made of"
—Newsday

  "A fabulous collection. These maps are almost works of art, and can kindle a remembrance of a past trip or a dream of a future journey"
—Seattle Times

"Impossibly nerdy and thoroughly compelling"
—Kansas City Star

  "This is the kind of book that would be incredibly fun to browse with kids as part of a world geography investigation--and also the sort of thing that makes great bedtime reading if you want to salt your dreams with the possibility of travel to distant cities. Sheer public transit/map porn!"
—Boingboing.com

“Fascinating”
—Peter Greenberg, National Public Radio

  "Even if you are not a "map person" this book makes it so easy to experience the unique perspective of rail-based transit. Artistically a treat with its interesting colors, shapes and design; it's a coffee table essential. Ovenden brings a unique perspective to maps and to travel in general. Transit Maps of the World is a must-read for the literary traveller"
—Literary Traveller.com

  "A vibrant tip of the hat to the world's urban train systems"
—National Geographic Intelligent Traveller

“…look no further for the next must-have book”
—Very Short List

“The sort of book you couldn’t imagine you needed until you got it and now you can’t imagine how you could do without it . . . It’s fantastic!”
—Robert Elms, BBC London

“Like a Condé Nast Traveler magazine for jetsetters with subterranean tendencies.”
—Metro

“Delightful.”
—The Guardian, London

“A beautifully illustrated study of the plans that help passengers navigate the world’s metropolitan railway systems.”
—The Times, London

“An object lesson in information design.”
—Wallpaper

About the Author
Mark Ovenden is a writer and broadcaster in London.

Customer Reviews

Excellent map information
An excellent book for cartographers and those interested in maps of transit systems around the world. Comprehensive would be an understatement, as the book truly lives up to its promise of including every transit map in the world. A bit more information on the systems themselves would have been nice, but I guess that's not what this book is about as much as the history of the maps of the systems. All in all, definitely worthwhile if you've got a passion for transit maps!

1972 NYC Subway map by Vignelli had a 1976 revision
Got this book last night, started reading it, and when I got to the description of NYC 1972 map by Vignelli, giving it a modernistic feel of the times, was pretty excited, because I knew I own a paper map. Went looking for it, and upon reading from the book that users of the map were confused by the fact that the station of "50th St - Bdway" was positioned west of 8th avenue, went to check on my map this fact. Unfortunately, the station was positioned correctly, i.e., east of 8th Ave, and noticed that the map was slightly different from the one illustrated in the book. Then I saw the date of print on my map, 1976, and realized it must have been a revision from the earlier map in response to the users's complaints. Great book.

Dream fulfilled!
This book fulfills one of my top dreams -- to be more exact, I could not have dreamed of such a book! Reading maps and riding subways have been two of my favorite hobbies, and it is definitely awesome to see more than 200 cities' urban transit maps juxtaposed and compared in one book. Even better, the author gives detailed introduction to the history and includes many interesting anecdotes of those storied urban transit systems such as Berlin, Chicago, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. I use this book to remind my boy about the cities and places we ever visited, and teach him how to use a transit map to quickly find a route to any destination. We have been enjoying it so far, and I believe lots of fun will continue to flow out from it.