A. to Z. London Street Atlas

Product Information

Unless indicated to the contrary, the index shows districts and various facilities or places of interest in colour to make them easy to see., with separate listings of hospitals/healthcare facilities and railway/underground/etc, stations. All versions all include a diagram of London Transport’s Underground/Overground/DLR network. Stanford’s presentation of the individual atlases includes an image showing the extent of the coverage. The main brands of smartphone come with their own free mapping and location apps, most commonly powered by Google, Microsoft (Bing), Nokia (Here), and most recently Apple. The apps provide a global mapping database that covers the full range of scales from a world map down to the neighbourhood level. They provide location searches and multiple mapping layers, such as road mapping and aerial photography. Higher functionality can include turn-by-turn routing and public transport info. The accuracy of the mapping and the app functionality varies between the apps mentioned above, and within each app it commonly varies by country. Comparison of A-Z app and iOS A-Z London apps You can use your device’s inbuilt location services to show your current location on the map or follow your movements as you travel. Suddenly, large chunks of the population had free access to a zoomable, scrollable map of the capital, on a device half the size of the smallest A-Z. Better yet, inbuilt GPS furnished us with a little blob, to indicate current location. You could even get a street view and satellite view. A-Z (now owned by Collins) have kept up by releasing their own apps ( iOS/ Android), but the paper version is increasingly rare.

What the book is not, is (just) a history of the A to Z map. Rather, it is a book about the history and geography of London, with A to Z maps used to frame the narrative.This high quality map covers a massive 3743 sq km (1445 sq miles) of London down to street level, the same area as the current print version of the Master Atlas of Greater London and extends beyond the Greater London and M25 area to Hemel Hempstead, We also enjoyed looking at some fairly-recent maps of London, that look very similar to the up-to-date ones, but show something that has since changed. For example, Trafalgar Square with traffic running on all four sides of it, until it was pedestrianised at the end of last century – how did we take so long to do that? The Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas and the story of how Phyllis Pearsall came to write the first edition covering London were featured in a 2005 episode of Nicholas Crane's Map Man TV programme. This revealed that, on all their maps, A–Z print a non-existent trap street so that they can tell if a map has been illegally copied from theirs, a technique used by several publishers of reference works (see fictitious entry). John dislikes digital maps: "The apps are thoroughly inadequate. If they weren't, I would toss the paper one in the bin." He doesn't elaborate. Of note, the quality of reproduction of the maps is excellent. Both old and new are crisp and clear. The book’s hardcover sleeve also has a rather nice “old parchment map” texture. Small detail we know but adds to the quality feel of the publication.

The map index contains over 300,000 entries with nearly 100,000 streets, over 200,000 postcodes, plus thousands of places of interest, hospitals and rail stations. All can be located on this high quality map within a few seconds using the search feature or by browsing the index. Geographers' A–Z Map Company was the official supplier of atlases and maps for the 2012 Olympic Games and 2012 Paralympic Games and produced detailed maps for the Olympic Park in Stratford, as well as all the other venues that were used during the games in London and throughout the United Kingdom. They produced three special maps detailing transport information on getting to the venues and also provided information on events related to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. In addition, A–Z provided special sections relating to the Games in their 2012 editions of their main UK-wide and local maps. You can also use your device’s inbuilt location services to show your current location on the map or follow your movements as you travel. The A to Z is a bit of an institution when it comes to London maps. It, along with the Tube Map, is probably the most famous and well known London map, and certainly the most famous atlas. We’ve reviewed a historic A-Z map of London before, but not the modern one that you will find in many bookshops, newsagents and petrol stations across the city and country. So, when this book – not a map! – the A to Z History of London– arrived in Mapping London Towers, we were curious.The index section lists streets, embassies, legations, commonwealth representatives and hospitals covered by this atlas. Iris also remembers the former era fondly: "I came to London in 1967. Lived in Earls Court. Everyone had an A-Z permanently on their person. How else could Auzzies, Canadians and people like me, from the North, get about. No mobile phones or sat nav. Good days." In addition to a map of the London Underground (central area), a West End Theatres map and a West End Cinemas map are also featured within this atlas. The Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas, commonly shortened to A–Z (pronounced "Ay to Zed"), is a title given to any one of a range of atlases of streets in the United Kingdom produced by Geographers' A–Z Map Company Limited. Its first atlas, of London, was originally compiled in the 1930s by Phyllis Pearsall. The company she founded now publishes street maps of many cities and towns in the UK. Zuti is a worldwide series of transportation maps from lead developer Visual IT who have been producing public transportation maps for mobile devices over many years.