It is said that history always repeats itself. That could be because people aren’t very motivated to learn about history. So one man has set out to deliver history lessons in graphical presentations short enough to hold the attention of today’s sound bite habituated public. Using a world map as the underpinning of his 90-second history lessons, the hobbyist website of Michael Wilkes, the creator of Maps-of-War (www.mapsofwar.com), delivers presentations on topics that include “The Imperial History of the Middle East,” and “The History of Religion.”
“As an international studies major and computer-design hobbyist in college, this website is a product of my creativity and free time,” Wilkes wrote to Arab News. “I love history and wanted to created something that showed the ‘Big Picture’ of wars instead of the battle-by-battle view we see most often in the news. It’s all about the ‘Big Picture’ of history, not measured in years but in centuries. The media doesn’t show us this view everyday, so Maps-of-War was created to fill this gap.”
In developing his presentations, Wilkes uses such sources as the “National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition,” the “Atlas of World History,” by Patrick K. O’Brien, “World History Atlas” by D.K. Publishing, Wikipedia.org and various New York Times Publications. All the animated maps are created with Macromedia Flash 8.0.
“Maps-of-War is meant to help people understand today’s war headlines as part of a greater historical context,” advised Wilkes. “Each map is well-researched and based on fact, and none of the work is meant to be biased or political. No spin or opinion, just fact-based conclusions about the history of war.”
It is obvious that the best of intentions have gone into developing Maps-of-War. It is also clear that there will be many who disagree with some of Wilkes’ maps. The lesson for everyone in this website though, is that new technologies can be powerful tools to convey information. Those who learn to use those tools well will probably have the best chance for having their “truth” considered by the widest audience.