For An Atlas of Extinct Countries
★ “Defoe’s irreverent wit makes his subjects come alive […] This book is a sparkling gem.”—Booklist (Starred Review)
★ “Both educational and entertaining, An Atlas of Extinct Countries is an irreverent look at the history of defunct nations and the larger-than-life personalities behind them.”—Foreword Reviews (Starred Review)
“Defoe writes [of these] evanescent would-be Utopias, independent communes and mayfly principalities in revved-up prose a bit like Hunter S. Thompson’s, but more jokey and with an English accent [...] I came to enjoy it immensely.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
“Meticulously researched but written for genuine laughs.”—CNN Travel
“Defoe brings a light touch to this unique collection... The author’s superior talent for vivid similes and punchy writing do justice to the tales of megalomaniacs and fools. This is perfect for fans of Atlas Obscura.”—Publishers Weekly
“An Atlas of Extinct Countries is a droll, tongue-in-cheek view of history.”—Kirkus Reviews
“An Atlas of Extinct Countries is one of the most intriguing new travel books… Defoe has a remarkable ability to bring these idealists, crackpots, and poets to life.”—Frommer’s Travel Guide
“Not just a recitation of nations that no longer exist, An Atlas of Extinct Countries is a very pointed and very funny critique of nation-states, borders, and the flawed men who make them....a timely cautionary history.”—Lesley Rains, City of Asylum Bookstore (Pittsburgh, PA)
“Better than the Darwin Awards and thrice as amusing, each country gets a summary, a map, and a couple pages to describe its downfall. The snarky wit matches the ostentatious history perfectly and you will laugh out loud. It’s the kind of thing you keep reading snippets of to your companion, who either enjoys them as heartily as you do, or leaves for quieter reading country of their own. So much the better; all that real estate to yourself.”—Charity McMaster, Schuler Books (Grand Rapids, MI)
“A hilarious history of short-lived countries and the often eccentric people who founded them. Defoe's skewering of the human ego and the misguided notions behind these unique and often squirrelly nations is enlightening and great entertainment.”—Don Luckham, Toadstool Books (Keene, NH)
For The Pirates! series
“As fun and light-hearted as Defoe’s writing seems on the surface, there’s always a comment being made. Great fun.”—The Independent
“Very funny, very silly and highly original.”—Esquire
“Throughout the book, Defoe manages to mix nonsensical jokes with subtle social commentary… Equal parts witty and absurd, it will put a smile on the face of even the stiffest reader.”—Memphis Flyer
“Defoe keeps things moving along and has a winning proclivity toward footnotes—where he does some of his best writing—and nonsensical asides.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Equal parts satire and farce as if written by Monty Python, Defoe skewers everyone and everything in a laugh-out-loud performance.”—Publisher’s Weekly
“One of the biggest joys in my life this year, stuffed with witty one-liners and good-humored observations on the human condition.”—Sacramento News & Review
05/17/2021
Defoe (How Animals Have Sex) brings a light touch to this unique collection of “obituaries of the nations that fell off the map.” Highlighting 48 (often grim) countries that no longer exist, Defoe covers the familiar, such as Yugoslavia, as well as more obscure places such as Franceville (a country from 1889–1890 in modern-day Vanuatu), and catalogues “chancers, racists, racist chancers, conmen, madmen... and a lot of things that you’d file under the umbrella term of ‘general idiocy’.” In 1811, for example, a Massachusetts adventurer tried to establish on three remote islands in the south Atlantic a country with a mission to offer refreshments to passing travelers, thereby creating “a glorified motorway service station, but in the stupidest place possible.” The residents of “The Great Republic of Rough & Ready,” meanwhile, gave up on seceding from California when a neighboring town refused to sell them alcohol. Defoe’s humor doesn’t always fit the material (William Walker’s deliberate contamination of water supplies that caused a cholera epidemic in modern-day Mexico, and a civil war in 19th-century China that killed between 20 million and 100 million, are both relegated to footnotes), but on balance the author’s superior talent for vivid similes and punchy writing do justice to the tales of megalomaniacs and fools. This is perfect for fans of Atlas Obscura. (June)
2021-04-02
Historical sketches of 48 countries that no longer exist.
“Countries die,” writes Defoe on the first page. “Sometimes it’s murder. Sometimes it’s an accident. Sometimes it’s because they were too ludicrous to exist in the first place.” The author, who admittedly uses the term country broadly, provides brief, often humorous summaries not intended to provide a comprehensive, scholarly examination of extinct countries. The book contains a mixture of familiar nations and “countries” that many readers may have never known existed (Poyais, Khwarezmia, the Free State of Bottleneck, the Great Republic of Rough & Ready, etc.). Although Defoe offers a clever perspective, the satirical tone occasionally misses the mark. Regarding the Kingdom of Bavaria (1805-1918): “Every morning, Ludwig II, the fourth king of Bavaria, would have his barber tease out his hair into a weird bouffant that made his head look massive.” The Principality of Elba (1814-1815): “It had been a rough few years and, like desperate parents sticking an iPad in front of their difficult toddler, the great powers of Europe decided to give the recently vanquished Emperor Napoleon a little country of his own to play with.” The author’s irreverent, often biting style captures numerous unsettling elements of world history. “The Confederate States of America hasn’t been a thing for a century and a half,” he writes, “but that doesn’t stop cowardly Nazis (in those parts of Europe where the swastika is banned) from using the Confederate flag as a coded bumper sticker.” And: “The new Kingdom of Yugoslavia, barely out of its bubble wrap, first fell apart in World War II. Croatia enthusiastically hooked up with the Axis powers. So enthusiastically in fact, that the Nazis found the Croat massacres of the Serbs a bit hard to stomach (compared to their own, much neater genocides).” It’s not Niall Ferguson, but it fits the historical facts.
A droll, tongue-in-cheek view of history best taken in small doses and with a grain of salt.
