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The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World

The Red Atlas

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"The Red Atlas" by John Davies, Alexander J. Kent is a history book focused on Astronomical Data. Best for general readers, students, and topic-focused learners.

From 1950 to 1990, the Soviet Army conducted a global topographic mapping program, creating large-scale maps for much of the world that included a diversity of detail that would have supported a full range of military planning. For big cities like New York, DC, and London to towns like Pontiac, MI and Galveston, TX, the Soviets gathered enough information to create street-level maps. What they chose to include on these maps can seem obvious like locations of factories and ports, or more surprising, such as building heights, road widths, and bridge capacities. Some of the detail suggests early satellite technology, while other specifics, like detailed depictions of depths and channels around rivers and harbors, could only have been gained by actual Soviet feet on the ground. The Red Atlas includes over 350 extracts from these Cold War maps, exploring their provenance and cartographic techniques as well as what they can tell us about their makers and the Soviet initiatives that were going on all around us.

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Best For: Readers interested in Cold War history, cartography, and Soviet military strategy.
Focus: The Soviet Union's global topographic mapping program from 1950 to 1990.
Covers: The creation of detailed large-scale maps of cities and towns worldwide, including street-level details for major urban areas.
Why It Matters: These maps reveal the extent and detail of Soviet intelligence gathering and military planning during the Cold War era.

"The Red Atlas" by John Davies, Alexander J. Kent is a history book focused on Astronomical Data. Best for general readers, students, and topic-focused learners.

Topic: Astronomical Data

Author: John Davies, Alexander J. Kent

Who this is for:

  • Students
  • Educators
  • Interested readers

Why this book matters: It gives readers useful context, background, and perspective on the subject through a focused and accessible presentation.

From 1950 to 1990, the Soviet Army conducted a global topographic mapping program, creating large-scale maps for much of the world that included a diversity of detail that would have supported a full range of military planning. For big cities like New York, DC, and London to towns like Pontiac, MI and Galveston, TX, the Soviets gathered enough information to create street-level maps. What they chose to include on these maps can seem obvious like locations of factories and ports, or more surprising, such as building heights, road widths, and bridge capacities. Some of the detail suggests early satellite technology, while other specifics, like detailed depictions of depths and channels around rivers and harbors, could only have been gained by actual Soviet feet on the ground. The Red Atlas includes over 350 extracts from these Cold War maps, exploring their provenance and cartographic techniques as well as what they can tell us about their makers and the Soviet initiatives that were going on all around us.

AuthorJohn Davies, Alexander J. Kent
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
Published2017-10-17
ISBN-139780226389578
BindingHardcover
Pages249
LanguageEnglish
SubjectsHistory
TopicAstronomical Data

Format: Hardcover

Length: 249 pages

Language: English

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