An Atlas of Countries that Don't Exist

March 1, 2017

The introduction to Middleton's attractive work describes the difficulty of deciding what is and is not a country. The geography professor (St. Anne's Coll., Oxford Univ.) and documentary producer recognizes that the entities presented here are among a larger group with ambitions to nationhood, but these are the 50 that meet his rule of not securing a seat at the UN General Assembly while having "outward trappings of national consciousness" such as a government and a flag. The main body of this trade-size atlas chronicles places by continent, offering fast facts such as the entity's date of declaration, capital, and population. The entries also provide alternate names for the place, if any, and describe its situation--Transnistria, for example, is a "separatist region of Moldova, often portrayed in the West as a hotbed of crime and Stalinism." There are several three-color maps for each entry, illustrating the place in question, major features, and regional position. A spread of narrative that follows describes history and political geography. VERDICT This is an engaging browse for YA and adult amateur geography enthusiasts; the lack of an index and detail in the maps, however, makes it unsuitable for academic use.--Henrietta Verma, National Information Standards Organization, Baltimore

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.