The Fourth Part of the World Summary and Reviews

Media Reviews

"With the excitement and exhilaration of an explorer, Atlantic contributor Lester sets off on his own journey of discovery across the seas of cartography and history." - Publishers Weekly

"Lester provides an engrossing adventure for both general and informed lay readers...[T]his is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in cartography, the Age of Exploration, or European intellectual history." - Library Journal

"Lester could easily have written a fine book focused more narrowly on the creation of the Waldseemüller map ... Instead, he has told the genuinely epic story of Europe’s quest to explore the unknown, using the Waldseemüller map as his chart. In pursuit of that historical quest, few books could provide a surer guide." - The Sunday Times (UK)

"Toby Lester has done American history the greatest service by writing this elegant and thoughtful account of the one morsel of cartographic history that would shake the world's foundations. We are told that this is his first book: may we hope that he writes many more, for his is a rare and masterly talent." - Amazon, Simon Winchester

This information about The Fourth Part of the World was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Toby Lester

Toby Lester is a contributing editor to and has written for The Atlantic on subjects that include the sociology of new religions, the attempt to reconstruct ancient Greek music, the struggle to change alphabets in Azerbaijan, and the chance harmonies of everyday sounds. His work has also been featured on the radio show This American Life. This is his first book.

More Author Information

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