Intelligence Revealed: Maps, Plans and Views at Horse Guards and the War Office 1800 - 1880

The British Library Publishing Division. Very Good. 2011. Hard Cover. Sm 4to 0712358439 Colour illustrated boards, no dj. No ownership marks. 390 pages clean and tight. This comprehensive carto-bibliography gives an account of geographic intelligence provision for the British army in much of the nineteenth century as reflected in nearly 1600 contemporary maps, plans, views and drawings produced at the centre of British military administration. The book provides, for the first time, an aggregate listing of the cartographic records produced by the Quarter Master General's Office, the Topographical & Statistical Depot (later the Topographical Department) and the Intelligence Branch. The material described mirrors the wide range of intelligence requirements regarding major conflicts, lesser-known wars and actions, expanding colonial and overseas interests, and domestic security concerns. More than thirty conflicts mapped include the Peninsula Campaign, the Crimean War and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. An extensive illustrated introduction provides a survey of the administrative and institutional context of military mapping at this time. Fully annotated descriptions of each item listed are supported by geographical campaign, personal and place-name indexes. .