Prisoners of Geography meets Bill Bryson: a funny, fascinating, fully illustrated atlas of 48 countries that, for 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. Their causes of death range from the implausible ("jerky prices") to the unfortunate ("too evil") to the downright bizarre ("boredom"). 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 were so absurd that it's impossible to skip the embarrassing stuff. The 48 deceased nations in this book include: The Republic of Sonora, 1853-4 (cause of death: no one took it seriously) The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, 1851-64 (cause of death: an unreliable prophet) The Empire of Khwarezmia, a proud civilization of five million, 1212-20 (cause of death: a total lack of manners) The Ottawa City Hospital Maternity Ward, 19 January 1943 (cause of death: a birth)