An Atlas of Extinct Countries
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3.8 • 8 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Prisoners of Geography meets Bill Bryson: a funny, fascinating, beautifully illustrated—and timely—history of countries that, for myriad and often ludicrous reasons, no longer exist.
“Countries are just daft stories we tell each other. They’re all equally implausible once you get up close.”
Countries die. Sometimes it’s murder, sometimes it’s by accident, and sometimes it’s because they were so ludicrous they didn’t deserve to exist in the first place. Occasionally they explode violently. A few slip away almost unnoticed. Often the cause of death is either “got too greedy” or “Napoleon turned up.” Now and then they just hold a referendum and vote themselves out of existence.
This is an atlas of 48 nations that fell off the map. The polite way of writing an obituary is: dwell on the good bits, gloss over the embarrassing stuff. This book refuses to do so, because these dead nations are so full of schemers, racists, and con men that it’s impossible to skip the embarrassing stuff.
Because of this – and because treating nation-states with too much reverence is the entire problem with pretty much everything – these accounts are not concerned with adding to the earnest flag saluting in the world, however nice some of the flags might be.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Defoe (How Animals Have Sex) brings a light touch to this unique collection of "obituaries of the nations that fell off the map." Highlighting 48 (often grim) countries that no longer exist, Defoe covers the familiar, such as Yugoslavia, as well as more obscure places such as Franceville (a country from 1889–1890 in modern-day Vanuatu), and catalogues "chancers, racists, racist chancers, conmen, madmen... and a lot of things that you'd file under the umbrella term of ‘general idiocy'." In 1811, for example, a Massachusetts adventurer tried to establish on three remote islands in the south Atlantic a country with a mission to offer refreshments to passing travelers, thereby creating "a glorified motorway service station, but in the stupidest place possible." The residents of "The Great Republic of Rough & Ready," meanwhile, gave up on seceding from California when a neighboring town refused to sell them alcohol. Defoe's humor doesn't always fit the material (William Walker's deliberate contamination of water supplies that caused a cholera epidemic in modern-day Mexico, and a civil war in 19th-century China that killed between 20 million and 100 million, are both relegated to footnotes), but on balance the author's superior talent for vivid similes and punchy writing do justice to the tales of megalomaniacs and fools. This is perfect for fans of Atlas Obscura.
Customer Reviews
Interesting
An interesting book. A series of brief biographies of countries that no longer exist. Many were in existence for a short time. Many have been forgotten to history.