Today we take maps and satellite imagery for granted. But accurate maps of the UK have only been available for a couple of centuries. Older maps are interesting to look at, but it is almost always immediately obvious that they are inaccurate, with the outline of the UK often having very interesting shapes.

In this book, Rachel Hewitt starts with a brief account of Bonnie Prince Charlie's exploits in 1745, including his escape after Culloden. In the aftermath of this battle, the English had great difficulty in tracking down and capturing the rebel leaders because they (the English) had no accurate maps of Scotland. Following this, a survey of Scotland was started in 1747. The book covers this survey, and continues until the 'First Series' of One Inch maps was completed over a century later. Reading this book gave me huge respect for the men (as it was only men) who measured a 10 mile long baseline to an accuracy of a few inches, and who then triangulated the whole country using a huge theodolite that had to be winched into position on church towers, mountain tops, etc. All this while travelling on foot or with horses, sometimes camping in wild places with their often horrible weather, and occasionally waiting weeks for the weather to clear so they could take their sightings.

There is also interesting detail on how the Ordnance Survey came to decide on which versions of place names should appear on the maps, and how the whole process was interrupted for many years while the surveyors were sent to 'deal with' Ireland. This is a scholarly work, with over 100 pages of notes and references at the end, but don't let that put you off. It is a readable and fascinating background to our well-known pink- and yellow-covered maps.