Alexander James Kent (born 24 August 1977) is a British

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and academic. He is

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

Cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

and

Geographical Information Science Geographic information science or geographical information science (GIScience or GISc) is the scientific discipline that studies geographic information, including how it represents phenomena in the real world, how it represents the way humans unders ...

Canterbury Christ Church University , mottoeng = The truth shall set you free , established = 2005 – gained University status 1962 – teacher training college , type = Public , religious_affiliation = Church of England , city ...

and a senior research associate of the

Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) was founded in 1985. It is a centre for the advanced study of Islam and Muslim societies located in Oxford, England, and a registered educational charity. Its Patron is The Prince of Wales. In 2012 it ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. From 2015 to 2017, he served as president of the

British Cartographic Society The British Cartographic Society (BCS) is an association of individuals and organisations dedicated to exploring and developing the world of maps. It is a registered charity. Membership includes national mapping agencies, publishers, designers, ...

and in 2020, became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a senior fellow of the (UK)

Higher Education Academy Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recogniti ...

. Kent has also held fellowships of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

since 2006 and of the

since 2002. His scholarly contributions have focused upon cartographic

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

and

topographic mapping In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

, particularly Soviet maps, which led to the publication of ''The Red Atlas'' in 2017 (

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

). Co-authored with John Davies, the book provided the first general guide to Soviet military mapping - the world's most comprehensive cartographic project of the twentieth century.

Early life and education

Designing maps, board games and banknotes from an early age, Kent's decision to study cartography at university was largely inspired by a seventeenth-century estate map of

Lyminge Lyminge is a village in southeast Kent, England. It lies about five miles (8 km) from Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel, on the road passing through the Elham Valley. At the 2011 Census the population of Etchinghill was included. The N ...

that hung in his father's study as

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the parish. He later undertook doctoral research to analyse stylistic diversity in European topographic mapping at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

Career

Kent became head of the Cartographic Unit at the School of Geography,

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

before his appointment as

Senior Lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this concep ...

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

and

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

. Kent took up his role as

in Cartography and Geographic Information Science in 2015 and his projects have since involved the digital reconstruction of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

for a

Heritage Lottery The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

funded project to discover the life of St Eanswythe, a local seventh-century saint, as well as advising on geospatial projects for the UK Commission for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

and on Soviet mapping at the Centre for the Changing Character of War at Pembroke College, Oxford. Kent joined the

in 2000 and the

Society of Cartographers The Society of Cartographers (SoC) was an association of cartographers based in the United Kingdom. The Society was founded in 1964 at the University of Glasgow and was originally named the Society of University Cartographers. In 1989 the Societ ...

shortly after. He served as president of the British Cartographic Society from 2015 to 2017 and has been Editor of ''

The Cartographic Journal ''The Cartographic Journal'' (first published June 1964) is an established peer-reviewed academic journal of record and comment that is published on behalf of the British Cartographic Society by Taylor & Francis. An official journal of the Intern ...

'' since 2014. Kent has been a committee member of the Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps since 2008 and founded the Ian Mumford Award for excellence in original cartographic research by students for the British Cartographic Society in 2015. Kent became a Fellow of the British Cartographic Society in 2002 and of the

in 2006. In 2011, he was appointed deputy national representative for the UK to the

International Cartographic Association The International Cartographic Association (ICA) (french: Association Cartographique Internationale, ''ACI''), is an organization formed of national member organizations, to provide a forum for issues and techniques in cartography and geographic ...

(ICA) General Assembly and was vice chair of the Commission on Map Design for the Association from 2011–2015. He became the founding chair of the ICA Commission on Topographic Mapping in 2015, and in 2017, founded the World Cartographic Forum (a body within the ICA for leaders of national mapping societies to discuss common issues and share best practice). In 2020, Kent became a senior fellow of the UK

and a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

''The Red Atlas''

On joining the Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps, Kent met John Davies, a retired systems analyst based in London who had published a paper in the Society's journal ''Sheetlines'' in 2005. Davies and Kent embarked on a period of joint research and collaboration with the aim of finding out more about

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

mapping during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, which they went on to describe as 'the biggest cartographic story never told'. After publishing a series of academic papers, the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

at Oxford invited them to submit a proposal for a short book as an introduction to the subject and eventually offered the project to the

. ''The Red Atlas'' was published in 2017. ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' called the book a "glorious homage" and it featured as the Book of the Week in ''

THE ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', where

Jerry Brotton Jerry Brotton is a British historian. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London, a television and radio presenter and a curator. Brotton writes about literature, history, material culture, trade, and east-west rel ...

described it as "Brilliant... the best kind of cartographic history".

Mark Monmonier Mark Stephen Monmonier (born February 2, 1943) is a Distinguished Professor of Geography and the Environment at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. He specializes in toponymy, geography, and geographic in ...

praised the book as "carefully researched, well-written, and exquisitely designed and printed, it’s perhaps the only recent map history that can be called a real eye-opener". In 2019, a paperback version of ''The Red Atlas'' was published in Japanese by Nikkei

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

Inc. Kent gave interviews to several national Japanese newspapers in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in July that year while attending the 29th International Cartographic Conference. Davies and Kent have presented their research at the

Lenin Library The Russian State Library (russian: Российская государственная библиотека, Rossiyskaya gosudarstvennaya biblioteka) is one of the three national libraries of Russia, located in Moscow. It is the largest librar ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, the

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, the universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, where they were invited by the Slavonic Society in 2019. Martin Davis, one of Kent's PhD students at

, has researched the holdings of Soviet military city plans in libraries around the world and produced a detailed analysis of the plans' symbology. In 2021, ''The Red Atlas'' was featured by the Map Men in an educational video about Soviet mapping, which became the third highest trending video on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

shortly after it was released on 11 January.

Awards and honours

* Society of Cartographers Award for an outstanding contribution to the

(2016) * Henry Johns Award for the most outstanding paper published in ''

'' (

) (2010) * New Mapmaker Award for excellence in cartographic scholarship (

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

) (2007)

Selected works

Books

*''Mapping Empires: Colonial Cartographies of Land and Sea'', Cham: Springer Nature (2019) *''The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press (2017) *''The Routledge Handbook of Mapping and Cartography'', Abingdon: Routledge (2017) *''Landmarks in Mapping: 50 Years of The Cartographic Journal'', Leeds: Maney Publishing (2014) *''Cartography: A Reader'', Reading: The Society of Cartographers (2014) *''A Celebration of 50 Years of the British Cartographic Society'', Ilkeston: British Cartographic Society (2013)

Chapters

*"Foreword" In Darkes, G. and Spence, M. (Eds) ''Cartography – an introduction'' (2nd ed.) London: British Cartographic Society (p. 5) *"Cartographic Aesthetics" (2017) In Kent, A.J. and Vujakovic, P. (Eds) ''The Routledge Handbook of Mapping and Cartography'' Abingdon: Routledge (pp. 299–310) *"Maps and Identity" (2017) In Kent, A.J. and Vujakovic, P. (Eds) ''The Routledge Handbook of Mapping and Cartography'' Abingdon: Routledge (pp. 413–426) *"Reproduction, Design and Aesthetics" (2015) In Monmonier, M. (Ed.) ''The History of Cartography (Volume VI: The Twentieth Century)'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press (pp. 1331–1336)

Research papers

*Kent, A.J., Davis, M. and Davies, J. (2019) "The Soviet Mapping of Poland – A Brief Overview" ''Miscellanea Geographica – Regional Studies on Development'' 23 (1) pp. 1–1
DOI:10.2478/mgrsd-2018-0034
*Pastor, D. and Kent, A.J. (2019) "Transformative Landscapes: Liminality and Visitors’ Emotional Experiences at German Memorial Sites" ''Tourism Geographies'' 22 (2) pp. 250-27
DOI:10.1080/14616688.2020.1725617
*Kent, A.J. (2018) "Form Follows Feedback: Rethinking Cartographic Communication" ''Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture'' 13 (2) pp. 96–11
DOI:10.16997/wpcc.296
*Kent, A.J. (2014) "Thomas Hill’s Map of Lyminge, 1685" ''Lyminge: A History'' 6 (23) pp. 1–1
PDF (ResearchGate)
*Kent, A.J. and Davies, J. (2013) "Hot Geospatial Intelligence from a Cold War: The Soviet Military Mapping of Towns and Cities" ''Cartography and Geographic Information Science'' 40 (3) pp. 248–25
DOI:10.1080/15230406.2013.799734
*Kent, A.J. (2009) "Topographic Maps: Methodological Approaches for Analyzing Cartographic Style" ''Journal of Map and Geography Libraries'' 5 (2) pp. 131–15
DOI:10.1080/15420350903001187
*Kent, A.J. and Vujakovic, P. (2009) "Stylistic Diversity in European State 1:50 000 Topographic Maps" ''The Cartographic Journal'' 46 (3) pp. 179–21
DOI:10.1179/000870409X12488753453453
*Kent, A.J. (2005) "Aesthetics: A Lost Cause in Cartographic Theory?" ''The Cartographic Journal'' 42 (2) pp. 182–18
DOI:10.1179/000870405X61487

Editorials

*Kent, A.J. (2020) "Mapping and Counter-mapping COVID-19: From Crisis to Cartocracy" ''The Cartographic Journal'' 57 (3) pp. 187–19
DOI:10.1080/00087041.2020.1855001
*Kent, A.J. and Hopfstock, A. (2018) "Topographic Mapping: Past, Present and Future" ''The Cartographic Journal'' 55 (4) pp. 305–30
DOI:10.1080/00087041.2018.1576973
*Kent, A.J. (2017) "Trust Me, I’m a Cartographer: Post-truth and the Problem of Acritical Cartography" ''The Cartographic Journal'' 54 (3) pp. 193–19
DOI:10.1080/00087041.2017.1376489

References

External links

''The Red Atlas'' official websiteStaff Profile
at

.
Canterbury Christ Church University Institutional Repository
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Alexander James 1977 births Living people People from Dover, Kent British geographers Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Alumni of Canterbury Christ Church University Alumni of the University of Kent Alumni of Oxford Brookes University Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Academics of Canterbury Christ Church University British cartographers Senior Fellows of the Higher Education Academy People from Lyminge