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, which was printed between 1955 and 1959, was commissioned from John Bartholomew & Son, John Ian Bartholomew as chief editor.
For this world map, Bartholomew used his own Atlantis projection, which he had developed in 1948. It is an oblique variant of the Mollweide projection, equivalent in areas, centred at 30° west longitude and 45° north latitude. By placing the Atlantic on the central axis, the projection concentrates the inevitable Mollweide deformation on the ocean, and reserves the areas of least distortion for Europe, Africa and America, precisely the territories featured on the map.
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 legend is particularly interesting, as he speaks of allies in the case of the Western powers, while he speaks of states in the case of the communist bloc, inferring that it was not an alliance between peers. In the case of the Muslim group, he deliberately excludes Persia, Turkey or Pakistan, and merely speaks of territories, hinting at the lack of cohesion in the bloc.
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