We make maps to understand the world around us, and indeed, cartography also clarifies how cities—and their inhabitants—develop over time. Spanning the centuries, the locales shown here in beautifully reproduced vintage maps include New York, London, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, Rome, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Barcelona, Yokohama, and Nuremberg. Each map is accompanied by a textual description of the map placing it within its historical, political, social, and economic context. The book also includes short biographies of the artists who produced each map, highlighting their contributions to cartography.