Image: Penguin Random House · source
Penguin · Mid-range
Mark Ovenden's expanded edition collects historical and current rapid-transit maps in 176 pages.
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We have not tested it ourselves: strengths and weaknesses below come from the tests cited.
Anyone who rides subways, light rail or streetcars knows the pull of a good system map. The publisher says this collection traces the cartographic history of mass transit and includes rare and historic maps, diagrams and photographs, some available for the first time since their original publication. The description names subway, light rail and streetcar maps from New York to Nizhny Novgorod. For a railfan who collects maps or likes to see how a network was drawn, it puts hundreds of systems in one place. The publisher page also quotes press comments: the New York Times is quoted saying no other design history book has done what this one does, and the Seattle Times is quoted calling the maps almost works of art that can kindle a memory of a past trip or a dream of a future journey.
This is an armchair book for browsing. The description presents it as a collection of maps, so it works as a reference to flip through before a trip to a city with a metro, or as a coffee-table item; the publisher itself calls it a coffee-table essential. According to the publisher, this edition has thirty-six more pages than before, 250 city maps revised from previous editions and listings for almost a thousand systems in total. It is not a route planner and does not replace the current map of the system a traveler is using. The cover itself draws the world map in the style of a subway diagram, a visual cue to the content.
Strengths
Weaknesses
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Pages | 176 |
| Author | Mark Ovenden |
| Format | Paperback, expanded and updated edition |
| ISBN-10 | 0143128493 |
| ISBN-13 | 9780143128496 |
| Published | Nov 3, 2015 |
| Publisher | Penguin (Penguin Random House) |
Gift givers and railfans with an interest in urban transit and graphic design. The publisher calls it the graphic designer's bible and the transport enthusiast's dream collection.
Train by Tom Zoellner offers a narrative of long-distance rail rather than maps. Blood, Iron, and Gold by Christian Wolmar is a history of railroads around the globe without the visual focus.
Image: National Geographic (Penguin Random House) · source
National Geographic · Mid-range
A National Geographic hardcover that profiles 100 railway journeys around the world, with notes on when and where to go, which cabins to book and what to see off the train.
Image: Lorenz Books / Simon & Schuster · source
Lorenz Books · Mid-range
A hardcover guide to the golden age of train engines by Colin Garratt, with 700 photographs covering the first designs to modern high-speed trains.
Image: PublicAffairs / Hachette Book Group · source
PublicAffairs · Mid-range
Christian Wolmar's trade paperback traces how railroads spread from Britain and America across the globe, in 432 pages.
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