& 39;Beautiful& 160;. & 160;endless brilliant unforgettable stories& 39; Cerys Matthews& 160; BBC Radio 6‘Combining myth and science this breathtaking book [is] packed with stunning images& 39; Daily MailAfter the enormous international success of The Phantom Atlas and The Golden Atlas Edward Brooke-Hitching& 39;s brilliant& 160;book unveils some of the most beautiful maps and charts ever created during mankind& 39;s quest to map the& 160;skies above us. & 160; This richly illustrated treasury& 160;showcases the finest examples of celestial cartography - a glorious genre of map-making often overlooked by modern map books - as well as medieval manuscripts masterpiece paintings ancient star catalogues antique instruments and other appealing curiosities. This is the sky as it has never been presented before: the realm of stars and planets but also of gods devils weather wizards flying sailors medieval aliens mythological animals and rampaging spirits. The reader is taken on a tour of star-obsessed cultures around the world learning about Tibetan sky burials star-covered Inuit dancing coats& 160;Mongolian astral prophets& 160;and Sir William Herschel& 39;s 1781 discovery of Uranus the first planet to be found since antiquity. & 160;Even stranger& 160;are the& 160;forgotten stories from European history like the English belief of the Middle Ages& 160;in& 160;ships that sailed a sea above the clouds 16th-century German UFO sightings and the Edwardian aristocrat who mistakenly mapped alien-made canals on the surface of Mars. As the intricacies of our universe are today being revealed with unprecedented clarity there has never been a better time for a highly readable book as beautiful as the night sky to contextualise the scale of these achievements for the general reader. . Language: English