Where a book is set is important. Settings can reinforce the centre of power or they can undermine it — the empire seeing itself or being seen from outside.

And places matter to how a story can be told too. Stories have an inheritance if they’re honest. They come from a place, a time and a culture.

The following maps, generated from Google Books, show the names of places in books over the years.

Placenames in books in 1800

Names of geographic locations in books in 1830

Names of geographic locations in books in 1860

Names of geographic locations in books in 1890

Names of geographic locations in books today.