Peter Ackroyd sees map-makers since Roman times trying to impose order on London's chaotic streets [audio 8min]

The history of London may be said to unfold, map by map, in symbolic fashion. The map is a symbol, not a record or a description. It bears as much relation to the actual shape and nature of London as the sculptures of Canova or Rodin bear to the human form. The map is an idealisation, a beautiful illusion of symmetry and grace. It gives form and order to the formless and disordered appearance of the capital. In the British Library's forthcoming exhibition "London: A Life in Maps", there is a gallery of shapes and perspectives, decorous and intriguing in turn, all of them creating a wholly different London. [Audio generated by ReadSpeaker automatic speech.]