MAP ADDICT BY MIKE PARKER (PAPERBACK)

As this book had sat quietly gestating in my head for years, it was a joy finally to let Map Addict out into the big wide world. I had a feeling there were others who would appreciate my nerdish obsessions, skewed take on the world and inability to go to the shops without consulting the Ordnance Survey first. And oh joy, there proved to be a lot of my fellow sufferers out there.

The response was phenomenal. I've received hundreds of emails, most telling their own tales of map adoration and how it has guided their lives and careers. Many said that they felt I'd told their story too, which was great to hear. Some shouted at me too about the things they felt I should have included, but didn't. A surprising amount of the responses came from abroad (it's a very British book) and slightly over half of them from women.  Whilst I'd dedicated a whole chapter of the book to demolishing the myth that maps are merely "boys' toys", I have to admit that that still took me by surprise.