Defoe, Gideon. An Atlas of Extinct Countries. New York: Europa Editions, 2021. ISBN:
9781609456801
Do you enjoy trivia? How about collecting minutia for the sake of knowing strange facts? Or do you just have some time to fill? If so you are in luck! Gideon Defoe offers the reader "the remarkable (and occasionally ridiculous) stories of 48 nations that fell off the map." Mind you, some were pushed.
After offering an explanation for writing this book, Gideon Defoe delves into the tales. For each country he offers a name, date, population figure, capital, languages, currency, and cause of death along with a map of the country. He divides the countries into Chancers & Crackpots (examples - The Islands of Refreshment, The Kingdom of Bavaria, and The State of Muskogee), Mistakes & Micronations (examples - The Republic of Cospaia, The Tangier International Zone, and The Soviet Republic of Soldiers & Fortress Builders of Naissaar), Lies & Lost Kingdoms (examples - The Great Republic of Rough & Ready, The Kingdom of Axum, and The Golden Kingdom of Silla), and Puppets & Political Footballs (examples - The Republic of Formosa, Ruthenia, and The Republic of West Florida - the original Lone Star State!). He finishes the book with some information on flags, national anthems, and a select bibliography of sources.
An Atlas of Extinct Countries is a great browsing book. You do not want to sit and read it all at once; you would get information overload. Rather this is a book to dip into, read a country or two, finish your business and replace besides your other trivia books for the next time you need a break from your "serious" reading. You will be entertained and may even learn a bit of history.
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