A perfect rendering of the title’s goal, this volume of more than 110 different maps in 18 categories (maps from outer space; fantastic maps;data maps; iconic Manhattan; exclaves and enclaves; literary creations; propaganda; and more) informs as well as entertains. Information as flexible as well as controlling. A great accompaniment to my Atlas of Unknown Islands.  Favorites included: 1)World Tube Map or Oslo to Pyongyang without changing trains 2)Use of food to map Bengal and the two linguistic parts of Switzerland 3) World’s linguistic superpowers:  Papua/New Guinea with 820 languages, Indonesia with 742, US with 311 4)Largest islands (Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, Baffin, Sumatra) 5) Largest lakes:  Caspian, Lake Michigan/Lake Huron, Lake Superior 6)Longest rivers (Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi, Missouri).  Overwhelming impression is that for national and even local borders, we just can’t be rational.