This map, drawn by John Ian Bartholomew, appears as part of the 1957 edition of The Times Atlas.
The Times Atlas is one of the most popular British atlases, with sixteen editions published between 1895 and 2023. The third edition, printed between 1955 and 1959, was commissioned from John Bartholomew & Son, with John Ian Bartholomew as chief editor.
This world map shows the British view of the world powers and the area of influence of each of them. To do this, the author uses three colours to represent the different groups:
- Western allies, in purple.
- Communist states, in orange.
- Arab-Muslim lands, in green.
The author's terminology in the caption is particularly interesting, as he refers to allies in the case of the Western powers, while referring to states in the case of the Communist bloc, implying that it was not an alliance between equals. In the case of the Muslim group, he deliberately excludes Persia, Turkey and Pakistan, and limits himself to referring to territories, hinting at the lack of cohesion within the bloc.
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