"Coastlines take on a completely different meaning after reading Mark Monmonier’s five-century-long odyssey on the challenges and tricks that mapmakers have used to tell us where land and sea meet. That line is far from obvious, it turns out. With the prospect of rising global sea levels, the technique of mapping changing bays, estuaries, and deltas requires imagination as much as mathematics.  By using history and humor, Monmonier’s fascination with mapping our coastlines is highly infectious."

Christopher Hallowell, author of Holding Back the Sea

"A very useful (and fairly quick) read on the topic of changing coastlines. . . . Anyone interested in an informative and entertaining read on climate change via the science of cartography and map-making should peruse Monmonier’s geographic treatise on coastlines."

Randy Cerveny | Weatherwise

"An interesting commentary on how mapmakers represent the changing nature of nautical coastlines. Writing in nontechnical language aimed at a general or undegraduate readership, the author extensively uses maps, figures, charts, footnotes, and diagrams to illustrate effectively how cartographers and mapmakers depict historical and time-series data."

Library Journal

An interesting overview of some of the most fundamental problems faced by all cartographers in map construction.... I highly recommend the work."

Colin V. Marray-Wallace | The Journal of the Australian Map Circle

"Coastlines is no exception to what we have come to expect from this exceptional scholar: well researched and referenced, captivating and engaging, with detailed stories set in a broader context of understanding, and a balance between scholarly thought and nontechnical writing for a public audience. His books are simply a delight to read."

Sally Hermansen | H-Net

"Mark Monmonier is a cartographer, distinguished professor, and writer extraordinaire. . . . This volume, on mapping shorelines, is yet another excellent contribution."

Klaus J. Meyer-Arendt | Technology & Culture

"[Coast Lines] provides an excellent grounding for a full understanding of the complexity of all factors involved with the historical and current mapping and charting of the world’s coastlines. . . . This was an enjoyable read."

Charles A, Burroughs | Imago Mundi

"By using coast lines on maps as examples, the book provides an interesting overview of some of the most fundamental problems faced by all cartographers in map construction. In this sense the book is thought-provoking. The book is written in a very readable style and should be of wide appeal, irrespective of one’s degree of technical expertise or familiarity of maps."

Colin V. Murray-Wallace | The Globe