If you have ever been confused by the numerous border changes in Germany, Poland, Prussia or of any other country in Europe or the Middle East, you need to check out this terrific new software. (See the brief video below.)
Centennia Historical Atlas is a software program that shows the changing country boundaries in Europe and the Middle East from the beginning of the 11th century to the present. It is a dynamic, animated historical atlas and includes over 9,000 border changes. Centennia is ideal for anyone who loves maps and history, and is especially helpful for genealogists as they try to uncover their past.
The map controls evolve the map forward or backward in time bringing the static map to life. Centennia displays every major war and territorial conflict displaying the status of each region at intervals of a tenth of a year. The maps reflect actual "power on the ground" rather than internationally-sanctioned or "recognized" borders.
"As a kid I dreamed of maps that would move; I got what I wanted in Centennia. This colorful political map of Europe and the Mid-East redraws itself at yearly intervals from the year 1000 to present. It's a living map, an atlas with the dimension of time. I can zoom around history, pause at particular dates, or simply watch how nations melt away, or disintegrate into tiny fragements, or unite! Year by year the outlines of tribes and nations spread, retreat, and reform almost as if they were tides or infections. The resolution of detail (almost at the "county" level) is astounding; the breadth of time (ten centuries) thrilling. It rewards hours and hours of study." (from Kevin Kelly, editor-at-large of "Wired" magazine)
Watch the video overview
Click on the Play button below to watch a brief overview of Centennia Historical Atlas. (If the video below doesn't work, click here to watch the video from our videos page.)
The Centennia Historical Atlas has been required reading for all beginning students at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis for the past ten years. Over 1,200 copies have been purchased annually for all prospective naval officers at Annapolis. The software serves as a visual introduction to Western History from a cartographic perspective. Centennia is also licensed by hundreds of secondary schools, colleges, and universities worldwide.
Individual home users also purchase the Centennia Historical Atlas. It's ideal for anyone who loves maps and history, and it's also extremely popular among genealogy enthusiasts. There's no easier way to get a long-time-scale perspective on the history of the regions of Europe and the Middle East than by watching the borders shift back and forth in Centennia.
CENTENNIA covers in detail the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Hundred Years War, the Mongol invasions, the Napoleonic Wars, the Unification of Italy and Germany, the First World War, the Rise of Nazi Germany, the Arab-Israeli wars, and even recent events like the collapse of the USSR, the wars of the former Yugoslavia, and the Chechen wars.
The Centennia Historical Atlas software runs under Microsoft Windows Vista, and Windows XP/98/etc. as well as Apple Macintosh OSX (runs on Intel-based and PowerPC-based Mac computers). The software requires 20 megabytes of hard disk space and 40 megabytes of memory. Centennia does not have any other significant system requirements, and it will run well on almost any computer made in the year 2000 or later.
See what people are saying about Centennia Historical Atlas
Professor Randall Baker, Ph.D., Indiana University writes…
"For years I have struggled with an unwieldy and dangerous towering pile of historical atlases, often with frustrating results in my research. Centennia is a truly remarkable piece of work that provides a degree of interactive precision that no atlas does, or ever will, provide. It is a program in which one can lose oneself for hours in total fascination, beyond the general utility of research. It instantly provides clear and easily intelligible maps in full color, as well as crisp, narrative text. If only it covered the whole world… "Mercator's World magazine writes…
Using Centennia, "History suddenly becomes a dramatic and dynamic process, and you feel that you are there".
Wired Magazine's Ivan Berger calls Centennia…
"Time Trippin'" and says it's "something I've always dreamed of".
The German Studies Newsletter writes…
"one of the greatest inventions since sliced bread." OK, even we agree that that's a bit of friendly hyperbole.
How to Purchase – $20 off
For a limited time, purchase Centennia Historical Atlas software at the introductory price of $59.95 (a savings of $20). Available by download or CD (shipping charges apply for CD).
For more information about Centennia, click here.
Howard, here are the system requirements: “The Centennia Historical Atlas software runs under Apple Macintosh OSX (runs on Intel-based and PowerPC-based Mac computers), as well as Microsoft Windows Vista, and Windows XP/98/etc. The software requires 20 megabytes of hard disk space and 40 megabytes of memory. Centennia does not have any other significant system requirements, and it will run well on almost any computer made in the year 2000 or later.”