An Atlas of Extinct Countries

 By Gideon Defoe 

Europa     2022

250 pages     Satire

The Shortlist

The tagline for An Atlas of Extinct Countries is “The Remarkable (and Occasionally Ridiculous) Stories of 48 Nations that Fell off the Map.” This book is a trip! I received it from the publisher, and I had no preconceived notion of the book’s intent.  Then I read the Introduction. Defoe says, “Countries die. Sometimes it’s murder. Sometimes it’s an accident. Sometimes it’s because they were too ludicrous to exist in the first place.” He then announces, “These are the obituaries of the nations that fell off the map.”

Defoe describes the rules he gave himself when designating the countries he chose to include in the book, and he outlines these before he begins. Then he divides up the 48 countries into categories: Chancers & Crackpots, Mistakes & Micronations, Lies & Lost Kingdoms, and Puppets & Political  Footballs. Most people know about some of the countries, including Sarawak, Elba, and Bavaria. More interestingly, Defoe outlines several  countries that had a very short run, such as The Kingdom of Rough and Ready, now part of California, that only lasted two months when gold was discovered on the spot. Throughout the book, Defoe blames the demise of many of the countries  on England, such as in the story of New Caledonia, which was established by Scotland in 1698 and only lasted until 1700. England forbade Scotland from getting investors from England or the Netherlands, and so the colony never had enough investors to survive. Besides that, there were a lot of mosquitos.

Each of the extinct countries is given a few pages of satire regarding why the country emerged, who founded it, and why it fell apart. Kirkus Reviews calls them “historical sketches.” I loved the biting humor and sarcasm, particularly when the author is outlining countries that lasted for less than a year.

I have been reading An Atlas of Extinct Countries bit by bit for several weeks, and I wanted to let my readers know about it. It would be a great Father’s Day present for history buffs or dads who enjoy humor and sarcasm. Ooh, that would be my son-in-law. Check that Father’s Day present off my list!