Podcast Summary: New Books Network – The Library of Lost Maps: An Archive of a World in Progress

Air Date: November 28, 2025
Host: Dr. Christina Gessler
Guest: Professor James Cheshire (University College London)

Overview

This episode dives into the hidden world of map libraries through Professor James Cheshire’s new book, The Library of Lost Maps: An Archive of a World in Progress. The conversation not only explores the fascinating story of a forgotten map library at University College London but also examines the deep cultural, political, and personal stories embedded in maps. From war-era espionage to gender and scientific legacy, from the innocuous to the politically fraught, the episode unpacks how the meaning of a map is shaped by its creators, users, and the times.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. James Cheshire’s Academic Journey

• (02:36) Professor Cheshire describes his unexpected path into academia, transitioning from a non-academic family background to directing the Social Data Institute at UCL, with a growing interest in both contemporary and archival maps.
• Quote: "I never imagined myself as being an academic... I did my undergraduate at Southampton, got into mapping and map making, and went onto a PhD at UCL. And I've just never left." (03:35)

2. The Fate and Importance of Map Libraries

• With the digitization of maps, traditional map libraries have largely disappeared, their collections often discarded or neglected. Cheshire discovered UCL’s largely untouched map library in a basement, akin to a “parent’s attic” that everyone forgets.
• Quote: "With digital mapping, paper's no longer important... These rooms stopped being used... but the one at UCL survived—largely untouched." (05:43)

3. Maps as Shared and Disputed Realities

• Physical maps, unlike personalized digital maps, show a single reality to all viewers at once. Emotional reactions from Cheshire’s diverse students highlight how map boundaries are subject to dispute—what's a region to one group may be a provocation to another.
• Memorable Moment: Students debate disputed territory in India, China, Pakistan; some feel discomfort handling maps showing contested borders. (09:06)
• Quote: "Maps let you gather around and discuss the issues… It’s very hard to make a perfect, definitive map that everyone agrees with.” (09:06)

4. Maps in Pop Culture and Geopolitics — The Barbie Movie Example

• The “nine-dash line” controversy from the 2023 Barbie movie demonstrates maps’ geopolitical weight: a fictional line on a “fake” map was interpreted as a political endorsement, revealing the sensitivity and power of cartography in global affairs.
• Quote: "If you take something and you call it a map, then people view it very differently..." (12:36)

5. Maps as Objects with Lives and Stories

• Used maps carry marks, stamps, and imperfections documenting their journeys—Nazi and British stamps, dirt from the London Blitz, charred or water-damaged edges. These features provide clues to history far beyond the map’s content.
• Quote: "A used map... really evokes some of that history... how intensively it was used, where it’s been, what it survived." (21:46)
• Example: A tourist map of Madrid, stamped by the Nazis, could have been repurposed as a war tool.

6. Capture Maps Program and WWII Spoils

• After WWII, Allied forces, especially Britain and the US, gathered countless enemy maps for intelligence and academic use—a program less well-known but crucial to expanding map libraries and preserving otherwise lost cartography.
• Quote: “So these university map libraries suddenly found themselves able to acquire detailed maps of Europe from this Capture Maps program.” (25:05)

7. Manipulative Maps & The Dark Side of Cartography

• Maps have always served as propaganda tools. Featuring the story of geographer Robert Dickinson, the episode probes mapmakers’ moral reckoning—his work directly shaped bombing targets in WWII.
• Quote: “He was an expert in German cities... then establishing a basis for bombing policy... I think was something he struggled with.” (29:38)
• The episode explores how post-war soul-searching led some geographers to labor over, erase, or run from their wartime roles. (33:55)

8. Maps, eugenics, and the Politics of Classification

• Maps can be used to advance exclusionary and pseudoscientific ideas—particularly seen in how interwar Germany (and earlier, the US) used ethnographic maps to “scientifically” justify racist or nationalistic divides.
• Quote: "Maps created this very simplistic view of what is a very complex situation. And the reason they were able to do that was because they had become trusted scientific tools." (35:50)

9. Spies, Subterfuge, and Cartography: The Tale of Alexander Rado

• The episode features the Soviet spy Alexander Rado, who adopted the cover of a map publisher to run espionage operations during and after WWII, exemplifying maps’ value as both information and subterfuge.
• Quote: "[Rado] fascinates me... he was able to operate as an academic, attend conferences, even while being tailed by the CIA.” (41:59)

10. The Women Who Mapped the World

• Lady Maria Calcott (early 19th-century travel writer) and Marie Tharp (20th-century oceanographic cartographer) are highlighted.

  • Maria Calcott: Challenged the male-dominated geological establishment with her earthquake observations, receiving rare recognition and eventually vindication from Charles Darwin (46:14).
    • Quote: “[Calcott] goes on the offensive and writes this kind of multi-page defense... completely pulling apart Greenoff’s argument. She got the endorsement of Darwin.” (46:14)
  • Marie Tharp: Produced the first physiographic maps of the ocean floor, paving the way for the acceptance of plate tectonics, despite major institutional barriers for women in science.
    • Quote: “She had this ability to create...maps where she had relatively little data but was able to fill out the entire map... foundational to plate tectonics.” (46:14)

• Ann Oxenham: Celebrated as an unsung hero—a “keeper of the maps” whose care and curation preserved irreplaceable archives (54:50).

11. Maps as Agents in War and Modern Conflict

• Maps continue to shape geopolitics. The episode notes that Russian forces invading Ukraine carried old Soviet maps that reflected Putin’s expansionist dreams, reminding listeners of maps’ enduring power. (54:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Map Libraries:
  “I think of it a bit like a parent's attic, really. You know it’s there, but you never really go into it and dig through the contents.” —James Cheshire (05:43)
• On the Power of Maps:
  “Maps compel us to act on what they tell us, even if they only offer incomplete information.” —quoted by Dr. Gessler (20:45)
• On Map Usage:
  “The life a map leads is entirely dependent on whose hands it’s in.” —James Cheshire (20:45)
• On Women’s Scientific Struggles:
  “She [Calcott] was the first woman to have materials published [by the Geological Society].” —James Cheshire (46:14)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:36] – Prof. Cheshire’s path to cartography & UCL map library
• [05:43] – Decline and rediscovery of map libraries
• [09:06] – Reactions of students to physical maps and geopolitical conflicts
• [12:36] – Barbie Movie’s “nine-dash line” map controversy
• [16:33] – The meaning and repurposing of maps: the Madrid Nazi map
• [21:46] – Value of used vs. pristine maps; evidence of history in physical form
• [25:05] – The Capture Maps Program and post-WWII map collections
• [29:38] – Manipulative war maps and academic complicity in violence
• [35:50] – Ethnographic maps and eugenics: scientific authority misused
• [41:59] – Soviet spy Alexander Rado's life as a cartographer
• [46:14] – Stories and contributions of Maria Calcott and Marie Tharp
• [54:50] – Ann Oxenham, preservation of map libraries, and maps’ continued power in modern conflicts

Conclusion: Lasting Lessons and Final Thoughts

• Curiosity and Critical Eye: Cheshire urges listeners to look twice at old paper maps and to interrogate not only what they show but who made them, for what purpose, and how they've been used.
  • Quote: “Not to take maps for granted and actually to think of them more as great works of art... considering the artist, the intentions, and the reception.” (56:24)
• Human Stories in Cartography: The episode reveals that maps are not neutral—they are shaped by and shape the world, embodying everything from scientific discovery to propaganda, from personal legacy to national destiny.

For Visuals and Further Exploration

• Listeners are invited to view many discussed maps at: libraryoflostmaps.com

Recommended for:
Anyone curious about the hidden histories of everyday objects, the tangled stories of science and politics, the personal and global stakes of who gets to draw the map, and anyone who still treasures the feel and mystery of an old, used atlas.