Spies, Maps, and Secret Missions: Deep Into Enemy Territory

With a background in diplomatic and international history, he wrote Diplomacy: The World of the Honest Spy (to accompany a BL exhibition of the same name) as long ago as 1979. A specialist in early modern and medieval mapping, his research has illuminated the cultural, political and artistic power of maps. As well as acting as a consultant for a number of television series on maps, he curated the Library’s exhibition Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art and authored key works including The Map Book and London: A History in Maps. Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Historical Society, he was warded an OBE in 2012, Peter’s scholarship and public engagement have made him one of Britain’s foremost cartographic historians.

He is also a project manager for World Monuments Fund in Britain. A specialist in topographic mapping, his discovery of Soviet maps during a visit to Kazakhstan in 2001 led to the publication of The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World, which he co-authored with John Davies. A former President of the British Cartographic Society, he is also Editor of The Cartographic Journal and a Vice President of the International Cartographic Association. Widely recognised for his expertise on the aesthetics of cartography and on Soviet maps, Alex has over 150 publications to his name and has presented his research at many conferences around the world.

Michael Wood is an internationally acclaimed historian, film-maker and broadcaster, and the author of several bestselling books, including three Sunday Times number one bestsellers. He has made well over a hundred and twenty documentary films, hailed as some of 'the most innovative history programmes ever on TV' by the Independent. These include In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great and The Story of China. His latest book is In the Footsteps of Du Fu: China’s Greatest Poet (2023). Michael is an OBE, a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries.