{"product_id":"9780008393854_an-atlas-of-extinct-countries-the-remarkable-and-occasionally-ridiculous-stories-of-48-nations-that-fell-off-the-map","title":"An Atlas of Extinct Countries: The Remarkable (and Occasionally Ridiculous) Stories of 48 Nations that Fell off the Map","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ePrisoners of Geography\u003c\/em\u003e meets Bill Bryson: a funny, fascinating, beautifully illustrated – and timely – history of countries that, for myriad and often ludicrous reasons, no longer exist.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e‘Countries are just daft stories we tell each other. They’re all equally implausible once you get up close’\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCountries 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is an atlas of 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 fails to do that. And that is mainly because most of these dead nations (and a lot of the ones that are still alive) are so weird or borderline nonsensical that it’s impossible to skip the embarrassing stuff.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe life stories of the sadly deceased involve a catalogue of chancers, racists, racist chancers, conmen, madmen, people trying to get out of paying tax, mistakes, lies, stupid schemes and General Idiocy. Because of this – and because treating nation states with too much respect is the entire problem with pretty much everything – these accounts are not fussed about adding to all the earnest flag saluting in the world, however nice some of the flags are.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gideon Defoe","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46897498128533,"sku":"9780008393854","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780008393854_eadc657f-fe69-4747-ae13-c9cd09acf025.jpg?v=1776888441","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780008393854_an-atlas-of-extinct-countries-the-remarkable-and-occasionally-ridiculous-stories-of-48-nations-that-fell-off-the-map","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}