I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, maps are an effective storytelling medium! After moving to Boston the first book I bought was Mapping Boston which, as a cartographically inclined individual, was a spectacular decision. It gave me a topographic sense of how Boston has evolved over time that I don’t think I could have ever arrived at reading a typical book. I also appreciate the perspective it gave me on the events surrounding the American revolution. Of course, I learned about many of the events that took place in Boston in grade school, but I never thought much about Boston was actually like at the time. Being able to visualize the shape of the city (both in a cartographic sense as well as the shape of the actual ground) through time offers a fascinating perspective on the history of the city.