Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession

Mapping the World (1x3)

Air date: May 02, 2010

Professor Jerry Brotton explains how maps encouraged the plunder and conquest of far-off lands as fabled riches drove explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Walter Raleigh to the New World. He explores the founding of America and the myth of Eldorado, before discussing how cartography made international enterprise possible through the Dutch East India Company and similar ventures