When was the last time you sat down with a good book? Not on your Kindle or iPad, but the real thing: good old-fashioned pages (thick and glossy!), colorful images, the smell of paper… At Visually, as much as we love discovering great visualizations and graphic design work online, we sometimes just need time away from the super-sized flat screens. We’re lucky to have a great collection of data visualization and design books, and we add more on a regular basis. Here, we offer you a look inside some of our favorites.

Railway Maps of the World

Mark Ovenden’s Railway Maps of the World is no simple collection of maps. It’s a time-travel device. Depending on where you live — and your age — you may remember train travel fondly. Not as a way to get from point A to point B, but as an adventure. A way of seeing and experiencing the world around you (and sharing it with a bunch of strangers, who may as well be your best friends by the journey’s end). Railway Maps of the World will take you back to that time, and much, much further, to the very beginning of railway travel. The hand-drawn maps of those days now seem too elaborate to be practical — but who cares? No one was in a hurry to be off the train back then, anyway. Compare that to the rail transit maps of today (transit being the operative word): In the early days of railway travel, railway companies did not advertise their services as a method of transportation. They advertised a means of touring local attractions. Or a unique, mysterious experience: Once you’ve had your fill of history and nostalgia, you can embark on a world tour of today’s railways: Enjoy! Railway Maps of the World Hardcover: 144 pages Publisher: Viking Adult (April 28, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 0670022659 ISBN-13: 978-0670022656