Our first in-house map was produced during World War I. By the Second World War, the White House was asking for them by name.

There is a fairly good chance that you have never heard of the tiny Pacific Island of Peleliu. With its size of approximately 13 square kilometres, it is little more than a speck on the map.

Aides rush in and out of the White House Situation Room, swarming around the map of Berlin spread across the table before President John F. Kennedy. All eyes carefully assess the markers on the city's ...