"Decolonizing the Map is a welcome contribution to scholarship on the history of cartography and will be of interest not only to historians of cartography but also to scholars of colonialism, decolonization, nationalism, and the politics of mapping. Each of the chapters is meticulously researched, well written, and accompanied by a rich variety of historical map images. . . . Overall, Decolonizing the Map is an exceptionally well-curated collection of historical-geographical scholarship on the countervailing forces at work in the history of nationalizing the map."

Journal of Modern History

“Excellent scholarship permeates every chapter of Decolonizing the Map. The essays collected here by Akerman are subtle, tightly argued, and carefully crafted; the standard of analysis and exposition is uniformly high. This fascinating volume will be widely read and enthusiastically received by a readership spanning political history, historical geography, and, of course, the history of cartography.”

Michael Heffernan, University of Nottingham

“Decolonizing the Map examines how maps were used before and after independence movements to establish new nations that emerged in the lengthy decolonization process. In different contexts, the contributors reveal not only how maps served as a basis for the construction of those nations but also how they were reflections of those recently emerged entities, condensing all the characteristics and contradictions of each process. This book is a pioneering intellectual enterprise—a highly recommended and welcome contribution to the field.”

Júnia Ferreira Furtado, Federal University of Minas Gerais

"This book contains an outstanding collection of chapters on diverse cases and issues connecting mapping with colonialism, decolonization, and postcolonial statehood. It represents a great example of how an edited volume can simultaneously contribute to broad thematic questions and to narrower topics. In fact, each chapter would serve well as an overview text on its specific area, and many of them represent fundamental empirical contributions in their own right."
 

New Global Studies