Arizona Gold and Gem Maps Book

The lack of organization between the various essays is this book's downfall. The essays vary greatly in quality and often end up repeating each other as they describe the physical history of Boston. A few feel as if they go off on wild tangents, such as the metaessay on the mapmaking industry of New England. Some provide fascinating insight into mapping and Boston itself, such as the essays on the fire insurance and government maps and the essay on the physical expansions of Boston.

Weak curating aside the star of the book and the reason we all checked it out from BPL is the maps. While small, they're printed at a high resolution - a loupe or magnifying glass is essential to enjoy this book properly. Overall I'd recommend the book just for the maps - skim the essays if you wish, but don't feel compelled to read them all.