How the compass became a political weapon
Jerry Brotton takes us on a journey through the unexpected history of the four cardinal directions
HistoryExtra podcast · Immediate
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Show Notes
Why did early Islamic cartographers place south at the top of their maps? Who invented the magnetic compass? And why has 'the west' become an intensely political term, as well as a geographical one? Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Jerry Brotton answers the most intriguing questions on the history of the four cardinal points: north, east, south and west.
(Ad) Jerry Brotton is the author of The Four Points of the Compass: The Unexpected History of Direction (Allen Lane, 2024). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Points-Compass-Unexpected-Direction/dp/0241556872/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.
Hear more from Jerry Brotton on the life and legacy of extraordinary cartographer Marie Tharp: https://link.chtbl.com/ZbHzAbh8.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
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