The Red Atlas: How The Soviet Union Secretly Mapped The World
by John Davies /
2017 / English / PDF
340.2 MB Download
Nearly thirty years after the end of the Cold War, its legacy and
the accompanying Russian-American tension continues to loom
large. Russia’s access to detailed information on the
United States and its allies may not seem so shocking in this day
of data clouds and leaks, but long before we had satellite
imagery of any neighborhood at a finger’s reach, the amount the
Soviet government knew about your family’s city, street, and even
your home would astonish you. Revealing how this was possible,
Nearly thirty years after the end of the Cold War, its legacy and
the accompanying Russian-American tension continues to loom
large. Russia’s access to detailed information on the
United States and its allies may not seem so shocking in this day
of data clouds and leaks, but long before we had satellite
imagery of any neighborhood at a finger’s reach, the amount the
Soviet government knew about your family’s city, street, and even
your home would astonish you. Revealing how this was possible,The Red Atlas
The Red Atlas is the never-before-told story of the most
comprehensive mapping endeavor in history and the surprising maps
that resulted.
is the never-before-told story of the most
comprehensive mapping endeavor in history and the surprising maps
that resulted.
From 1950 to 1990, the Soviet Army conducted a global topographic
mapping program, creating large-scale maps for much of the world
that included a diversity of detail that would have supported a
full range of military planning. For big cities like New York,
DC, and London to towns like Pontiac, MI and Galveston, TX, the
Soviets gathered enough information to create street-level maps.
What they chose to include on these maps can seem obvious like
locations of factories and ports, or more surprising, such as
building heights, road widths, and bridge capacities. Some of the
detail suggests early satellite technology, while other
specifics, like detailed depictions of depths and channels around
rivers and harbors, could only have been gained by actual Soviet
feet on the ground.
From 1950 to 1990, the Soviet Army conducted a global topographic
mapping program, creating large-scale maps for much of the world
that included a diversity of detail that would have supported a
full range of military planning. For big cities like New York,
DC, and London to towns like Pontiac, MI and Galveston, TX, the
Soviets gathered enough information to create street-level maps.
What they chose to include on these maps can seem obvious like
locations of factories and ports, or more surprising, such as
building heights, road widths, and bridge capacities. Some of the
detail suggests early satellite technology, while other
specifics, like detailed depictions of depths and channels around
rivers and harbors, could only have been gained by actual Soviet
feet on the ground.The Red Atlas
The Red Atlasincludes over 350
extracts from these incredible Cold War maps, exploring their
provenance and cartographic techniques as well as what they can
tell us about their makers and the Soviet initiatives that were
going on all around us.
includes over 350
extracts from these incredible Cold War maps, exploring their
provenance and cartographic techniques as well as what they can
tell us about their makers and the Soviet initiatives that were
going on all around us.
A fantastic historical document of an era that sometimes seems
less distant,
A fantastic historical document of an era that sometimes seems
less distant,The Red Atlas
The Red Atlas offers an uncanny view of the
world through the eyes of Soviet strategists and spies.
offers an uncanny view of the
world through the eyes of Soviet strategists and spies.