Secret Maps

How they Conceal and Reveal the World

By: Tom Harper, Nick Dykes, Magdalena Peszko

Write A Review

Hardcover | 24 October 2025

At a Glance

Hardcover
256 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
28.0 x 22.0 x 3.1

Hardcover

RRP $89.99

$89.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $22.44 with

or

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

Secrets and maps are a match made in heaven.

A Second World War military plan of a cave system covered with red stamps, a tatty hand-drawn treasure map marked with an ‘X’, or even your personal phone screen showing a precise ‘blue dot’ location. These maps contain confidential, coded, precious or private locational information and have, as a result, been hidden away or even falsified to preserve the advantage of ownership.

This beautifully illustrated and deeply original book tells the story of how maps, secrets and the data they betray, have come together in western culture over the past six centuries. It uncovers the key clandestine workings of imperial secrets, state secrecy, wider secrets within societies and more recent concepts of personal privacy. Combining the intrigue, excitement and danger that drives human fascination with secrets and the peculiar revelatory thrill that maps give us, it is an essential story with an unsettling edge.

About the Author

Tom Harper is Lead Curator in the British Library’s Map Department. In this volume he works alongside his fellow Curators Nick Dykes and Magdalena Peszko. All three are curating the Library’s forthcoming Secret Maps exhibition.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.