Mapping History

My father has a Collins Westminster Atlas circa 1965. It really is quite tremendous, like glimpsing  history over your shoulder. Bengal is still Pakistan, Israel; a grain of sand in the desert. Those troublesome Iranians are romantic Persians and, Zimbabwe's rather embarrassingly called Rhodesia. It could be worse, Kinkasha is named Leopoldville. Those Balkan States haven't Balkanised yet either.

Of course, us Brits are major winners, this Atlas is so old half the world is still painted imperial pink. India, Canada, Australia, most of Africa , Hong-Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Burma, we really come out of rather well. Of course the 10 year old future Dr. M.H Lyons would have had to face down those dirty commis. As he pawed over those pages and the USSR was cementing itself in Europe. From Sakhalin in the East to Berlin in the west, Latvia , Estonia, Poland, Lithuania all of it come under the iron fist of the USSR.
Now I truly love this Atlas, but for the purpose of travel planning its not to good at all. I did my best of course, I thought it would be rather nice to use my Fathers maps to draw up a route and itinerary, but it just wasn’t to be. I got beaten back by the winds of change, tripped up by crumbling empires and constantly ran up against that Iron curtain. It’s no good trying to find train routes between Leningrad and Peking these days.

So I invested in a wonderful map by that Grand Bastion of the English traveler, Thomas Cook. Something Amenduson or better yet Captain Scott, would have been proud of. In glorious colour it traces every train line in peace loving Europe. Not only that, compared to my fathers map there are Countries galore.  A hole sweet shop full of them; sadly no passports stamps these day. And, at a price of Seven Pound Sterling I really think its quite a bargain.

I brought a train timetable too. It records the arrival and departure of every train in Europe, in the month of April. Now I loved the map, but the timetable really was a dull read. The map is overtly British, the time-table Im certain has Germanic Routes. Imagine reading where's Wally and then been given a Calculus Book as the "exciting sequel". Well at least that’s how it felt, moving  from the map to the rail book.

I like comparing my new map against my Father’s old one. Us Europeans have come a long way in Twenty years. War in Europe is unthinkable. The European project really is magnificent. Like the birth of Athenian Democracy, this is Europe at it very best; continually disagreeing in our collective embracement. What a tremendous construct. It has affected us greatly, us Europeans getting chummy together. The genocide in Serbia seems unthinkable today, we would never let it happen again, but it we did just  Fifteen years ago. These days everyone knows Kosovo is far to near to those good ski pieces in Bulgaria.  Those Euro skeptics are so dull, so painfully unaware, that they are goose-stepping out of line with the rest of History. Its 2009 not 1939.

My new map is the Europe of Openness, Free transit,  We are, I am, the Erasmus generation, the inter-rail generation,  we're spoiled for choice in where to go. To think that it all used to be “hols” in Cornwall and Blackpool, its something I truly cant comprehend.

I only have Thirty days in Europe and there is simply too much to see. I find myself drawing lines between major cities. I’m like Xenophon and the Greeks wondering around in search of the Sea.  Its just impossible to find the optimum route. I highly recommended Inter -rail itinerary tabling though. Its like an adults version of join the dots. A purr-fect experience of table-top adventuring. The fun I’ve got from the Thompson travel Map already outweighs any utility I might eke out of it; it also makes up for buying that awful time table.

I guess the maps only tarnish is that it sends my fathers most reliable and resolute Collins Worlds Atlas Circa 1965, from the Geographical & Exploration to the Imperial & Historical book stacks; but in this day and age I dont think that’s such a bad thing at all.