What the book is not, is (just) a history of the A to Z map. Rather, it is a book about the history and geography of London, with A to Z maps used to frame the narrative. We also enjoyed looking at some fairly-recent maps of London, that look very similar to the up-to-date ones, but show something that has since changed. For example, Trafalgar Square with traffic running on all four sides of it, until it was pedestrianised at the end of last century – how did we take so long to do that? You can use your device’s inbuilt location services to show your current location on the map or follow your movements as you travel. Iris also remembers the former era fondly: "I came to London in 1967. Lived in Earls Court. Everyone had an A-Z permanently on their person. How else could Auzzies, Canadians and people like me, from the North, get about. No mobile phones or sat nav. Good days."

In addition to a map of the London Underground (central area), a West End Theatres map and a West End Cinemas map are also featured within this atlas. Until relatively recently, [ when?] maps produced by the Geographers' (A–Z) Map Company did not include a publication date. It is possible to determine a date range for publication due to the following: You can also use your device’s inbuilt location services to show your current location on the map or follow your movements as you travel. Geographers' A–Z Map Company was the official supplier of atlases and maps for the 2012 Olympic Games and 2012 Paralympic Games and produced detailed maps for the Olympic Park in Stratford, as well as all the other venues that were used during the games in London and throughout the United Kingdom. They produced three special maps detailing transport information on getting to the venues and also provided information on events related to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. In addition, A–Z provided special sections relating to the Games in their 2012 editions of their main UK-wide and local maps.The Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas, commonly shortened to A–Z (pronounced "Ay to Zed"), is a title given to any one of a range of atlases of streets in the United Kingdom produced by Geographers' A–Z Map Company Limited. Its first atlas, of London, was originally compiled in the 1930s by Phyllis Pearsall. The company she founded now publishes street maps of many cities and towns in the UK. Anita hits on a happy side-effect of paper maps: "I love a real map and the memories of all the places I have been." Paper does that somehow. We remember tracing our routes across the streets in a way that just doesn't happen on a screen. John dislikes digital maps: "The apps are thoroughly inadequate. If they weren't, I would toss the paper one in the bin." He doesn't elaborate. An area extending to: London Zoo to the north, Tower Bridge to the east, Tate Britain to the south and Kensington Palace to the west The map index contains over 300,000 entries with nearly 100,000 streets, over 200,000 postcodes, plus thousands of places of interest, hospitals and rail stations. All can be located on this high quality map within a few seconds using the search feature or by browsing the index.

Suddenly, large chunks of the population had free access to a zoomable, scrollable map of the capital, on a device half the size of the smallest A-Z. Better yet, inbuilt GPS furnished us with a little blob, to indicate current location. You could even get a street view and satellite view. A-Z (now owned by Collins) have kept up by releasing their own apps ( iOS/ Android), but the paper version is increasingly rare. The A-Z London smartphone map apps don’t compete with these services, but they do offer some real advantages for use in London. One standout feature is app performance. Offline access means that there is no need to stand around and wait for a signal, and no roaming data charges to pay. You can even use your A-Z maps on the tube. The second big advantage is the mapping quality. A-Z mapping is renowned for being easy to use, up to date and accurate. It wouldn’t be fair to expect a free global map service to match this. The map index contains over 300,000 entries with nearly 100,000 streets, over 200,000 postcodes, plus thousands of places of interest, hospitals and rail stations. All can be located on this high quality map within a few seconds using the search feature or by browsing the index. The search now reaches out to the internet for additional selections when an internet connection is available. The Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas and the story of how Phyllis Pearsall came to write the first edition covering London were featured in a 2005 episode of Nicholas Crane's Map Man TV programme. This revealed that, on all their maps, A–Z print a non-existent trap street so that they can tell if a map has been illegally copied from theirs, a technique used by several publishers of reference works (see fictitious entry).in 1972, the company name was changed from Geographers' Map Company to Geographers' A–Z Map Company. Information about places of interest, museums and art galleries for both central and outer London, including a star rating system to highlight recommended visitor attractions. The map installs completely on the device so that it is available instantly anywhere and with no internet connection..