This volume of essays considers the practical and political purposes for which maps were used, the symbolic and ideological roles of maps in the history of South-Western England and the ways in which map evidence can be used to recover facts about the past for use in the writing of history. The text is accompanied by 43 pages of maps and illustrations.

This is the first historical atlas of a major region of the United Kingdom. Its aim is to create and communicate the history of the south-western peninsula of England-Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly - from the beginnings of man's occupation to the present day. The cartographic message projected by around 400 maps is extended by a substantial text of about 250,000 words as well as diagrams, contemporary prints and photographs. This is one of the most substantial collaborative cartographic ventures undertaken in the United Kingdom. There are more than fifty contributors, about half of whom are drawn from within the University of Exeter, the remainder being researchers at other universities who specialize on topics relating to South-West England. The majority are geographers, archaeologists and historians, but there are also important contributions from political scientists, sociologists, educationalists and the region's museums, library and archive services. The pre-medieval content is organized chronologically but thereafter the reconstruction of human occupation is structured thematically