This is an innovative and highly readable study of, in Williamson's words, ‘unquestionably the most important single source of evidence we have for the landscape history of the county, not only in the eighteenth century but also in more ancient times’. County maps of the period are known to be an under-used resource, but thanks to a digital redrawing of Faden's 1797 map that can be used in conjunction with this volume there is now little excuse for local, social and industrial historians not to fish these teeming waters.

Andrew Macnair is a Research Fellow in the School of History, University of East Anglia, and it is he who painstakingly carried out the immensely useful as well as easy-to-use digital redrawing of the map in 2005, 〈www.fadensmapofnorfolk.co.uk〉. Tom Williamson, Professor of Landscape History at UEA, is well known in this field.

Faden and his map are placed firmly in their historical context: he was a successful London publisher with wealthy subscribers to please, and the map was one of the best produced in the eighteenth century, which witnessed a revolution in cartography, with more accurate surveying instruments and methods combined with improvements in travel and transport. Norfolk was almost the last county to have a newly surveyed large-scale map in this period, and the reasons for this are discussed, as are the impact of industrialisation and enclosure. The important role of the Society of Arts in encouraging high standards in map production through offering prizes is interesting, as is the detail on Faden's surveyors and their careers.

The discussion of the political context is useful, particularly regarding the use of Faden's maps for military decisions. More modern users are also mentioned, including agencies such as the National Trust and local authorities. The historical value of the map is carefully examined through assessing its accuracy and limits of reliability, and by comparison with other contemporary maps. The Cd-Rom provides more detailed examination of eleven parishes, information relating to Faden's coverage of different features such as churches, settlements and estates, and photographs of the original map in sample sections. The book has some good photographs and the detailed graphs are informative. Sadly, the text on earlier maps was too small to read, and some of the maps, particularly that showing roads, would have benefited from the inclusion of a few strategic place names.

The map's depiction of common land and earlier settlement patterns is viewed as perhaps its most important contribution to our understanding of landscape history, being surveyed prior to most of the enclosure that took place in the county. Reference to documentary sources as well as to archaeological evidence adds further to our understanding of the significance of commons in the landscape. Similarly, the discussion of woods, parks and parklands examines these features in terms of their usage and management. Much fascinating detail on estates and their distribution has been revealed, which is invaluable for studying the social make-up of the county at this time.

A chapter on fields, farms and fens explains how the map can be used to show recent modernisation of the agricultural landscape following the influence of Coke of Holkham. Intriguing features such as isolated barns, salt-making sites, drainage mills, sea breaches and lost broads also come under scrutiny here. A chapter entitled ‘For leisure and edification’, but confusingly with the running heading ‘For leisure and education’, focuses mainly on improvements in transport necessary for economic growth. The final chapter looks at ways in which the map can be used to provide us with evidence about a much earlier landscape through its reproduction of antiquities such as castles and Roman remains.

The authors manage to coax a wealth of fascinating new information from this source about the eighteenth-century and earlier landscape, gently peeling back the layers and analysing its content in different ways. They have demonstrated that the map can be used to reveal not only the character of the physical Norfolk landscape but also the features considered important by its influential subscribers. The book will certainly inspire me to consider the evidence provided by such maps in my own Norfolk research, as well as making my walks in the landscape both more informed and enquiring. The amount of information revealed has been greatly increased by the digital redrawing of the map and the authors express the hope that their interrogation and interpretation will inspire others to do the same further afield.