Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession - Windows on the World
BBC4, Sunday 18 April 9:00pm - 10:00pm Map-making is a basic human instinct that helps us make sense of our world. But maps are also a useful storytelling aid. And the first programme in this three-part series is an absolute atlas of great stories. Mapping obsessive Professor Jerry Brotton starts with the oldest example: a 3,000-year-old carving in an Italian hillside. From this simple celebration of land ownership, he vaults to a masterpiece of Roman propaganda, then a survey of Henry VIII's England that looks like a Noggin the Nog illustration. But the best moment comes when a satellite image is laid over a 12th-century map of the same region of China. The coincidence of town positions is astounding.
VIDEO Plus+: 3356050
Subtitled, Widescreen, High definition, Audio-described
Directed by: Rosie SchellenbergRadiotimes
