An Atlas of Extinct Countries

A funny, fascinating, beautifully illustrated, and timely history of countries that, for myriad and often ludicrous reasons, no longer exist—“Perfect for fans of Atlas Obscura” (Publishers Weekly).

“Defoe writes in revv-edup prose a bit like Hunter S. Thompson’s, but more jokey and with an English accent. . . . I enjoy it immensely.” —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

“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. This is an atlas of forty-eight nations that fell off the map. Their causes of death range from the implausible (jerky prices) to the unfortunate (too evil) to the downright bizarre (the flip of a coin). 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 ridiculous that it’s impossible to skip the embarrassing stuff.

“This book is a sparkling gem.” —Booklist (starred review)