The gridded space empty of history yet full of promise known to the modern world was constructed in Europe during the period he considers, says Short (geography, U. of Maryland-Baltimore County). He describes how the earlier world was formed of space and time deeply intertwined, and how history as well as geography formed an important part of geographical representation. The change was not abrupt, but is easily discerned by comparing the beginning and end of the process. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)