A beautiful book with vibrant colors on thick stock and excellent commentary.  With a decidedly British bent, the authors have chosen 100 often quirky maps through which to tell the story of the last century beginning with two 1900 maps one indicating routes for Edwardian tourism and the other showing the lay of the land during the Boer War through a number of maps from WWI and WWII and finishing with maps of the Glastonbury Festival, Diana’s funeral route, and the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, this is a fascinating overview of the last century.  One problem is that the maps are so small that one needs a magnifying glass to fully enjoy them.  Another problem is the nearly exclusive British focus leading to some funny colloquialisms as well as narrow focus that is a stretch for the American reader.  Nonetheless, this is a great way to review modern history and has some fascinating maps.  My favorite would have to be the April Fool’s day Guardian newspaper hoax which featured maps of the Islands of San Serriffe complete with the two islands of Upper and Lower Caisse, the national bird the Kwote, and the island’s outlines which suggested a semi colon.  Great fun.