About the only thing as good as actual transit maps is books about transit maps (and/or wayfinding design)! Here’s a selection of great reads for the map lover in your life!

Transit Maps of the World, November 2015 Edition by Mark Ovenden – a book that needs no further introduction to readers of this blog (My review here). A fantastic update to an already superb book. Buy on Amazon here.

London Underground by Design by Mark Ovenden – A complete look at the history of design in the Underground, the Tube Map included. The pioneering work of Frank Pick and Charles Holden is especially of interest, and there are plenty of beautiful Underground posters to savour. Buy on Amazon here.

One last Mark Ovenden book! Paris Underground explores the maps, stations and design of the famous Paris Métro over time. Buy on Amazon here.

The NYCTA Graphics Standards Manual reissue, compact edition. The Hamish Smyth/Jesse Reed facsimile of the famous Unimark manual, now in a more affordable compact 10″ x 10″ edition. $54.95 from standardsmanual.com.

Helvetica and the New York City Subway System by Paul Shaw. A comprehensive look at the introduction of the signage from that Graphics Standards Manual into the actual subway system. $42.95 from The MIT Press.

Underground Maps Unravelled by Maxwell Roberts. Not a cheap book by any means, but almost essential if you want to make better transit maps. Roberts has the uncanny ability to explore every option possible for a map right through to the end, even bad solutions that normal designers would discard much earlier in the process… all to see what makes a map tick. From £40 (UK) to £50 (the rest of the world), direct from Max’s website.

Vignelli Transit Maps by Peter Lloyd. An excellent exploration of the Massimo Vignelli New York Subway diagram and its historical context (My review here). From $35 on Amazon.