Britain's Tudor Maps

Book excerpt: A stunning new edition of the earliest atlas of the British Isles. Britain’s Tudor Maps: County by County reproduces the maps of John Speed’s 1611 collection The Theatre of Great Britaine in large, easy-to-read format for the first time. Compiled from 1596, these richly detailed maps show each county of Great Britain individually and as they existed at the time, complete with a wealth of heraldic decoration, illustrations and royal portraits. With an introduction by the bestselling author Nigel Nicholson, each map is presented alongside a fascinating commentary by Alasdair Hawkyard, elaborating on both the topographical features and the social conditions of each county at the time, enabling an examination of how the physical and social landscape has been transformed over time.