Water is one of the great obstacles of travel, and naturally perhaps, one of the great themes of literature. It represents the unknown, the vast distance to be travelled, the source of life, the murky depths, a hiding place, a home to monstrous creatures, and a huge part of our history.

We look at some of these ideas in this new issue of Unmapped: from the creatures that inhabit the freezing waters to the articles that can be dragged up from the depths, to the relationship with water of people that have relied on it and mastered it in centuries past, and finally the hidden underwater palaces that lurk beneath our cities, providing us with nourishment and health.

This issue, Unmapped brings you white whales in Canada, colonial empires in the Netherlands, bodies in the Thames in the UK, and an underground city in Paris.

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