Full title: “Transit Maps of the World: The World’s First Collection of Every Urban Train Map on Earth”

Author: Mark Ovenden, former MTV and BBC broadcaster

Released: Oct. 30, 2007

Travel genre: Subterranean guide

Territory covered: Metro stops worldwide: Piccadilly Circus, Gare Montparnasse, Shinjuku, Grand Central Station

Promo copy: “The first and only comprehensive collection of historic and current maps of every rapid-transit system on earth. Using glorious, colorful graphics, Mark Ovenden traces the history of mass transit-including rare and historic maps, diagrams, and photographs, some available for the first time since their original publication. Transit Maps is the graphic designer’s new bible, the transport enthusiast’s dream collection, and a coffee-table essential for everyone who’s ever traveled in a city.”

Critical verdict, Zagat-style: “Pure catnip to a certain kind of reader” (New York Times), the “sort of thing that makes great bedtime reading if you want to salt your dreams with the possibility of travel to distant cities.” (BoingBoing) An “impossibly nerdy and thoroughly compelling collection.” (Kansas City Star)

Author blog: Penguin Group

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