A History of the World in 47 Borders

The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps
A fascinating and surprising history of the world told through the lines people have drawn on maps, by the 'charming and outstandingly nerdish' author of The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything.

'Fascinating' TOM HOLLAND 'A delight from start to finish' MIRANDA SAWYER
'A novel and fascinating perspective on world history' BILL BRYSON
'By turns surprising, funny, bleak, ridiculous, or all four of those at once' GIDEON DEFOE
'Elledge writes with wry humour and infectious enthusiasm' OBSERVER

People have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, these lines might often have looked very different if a war or treaty or the decisions of a handful of tired Europeans had gone a different way. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does - and about the scale of human folly.

From the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to the reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders.

More endorsements for 47 BORDERS:
'Fascinating and hugely entertaining' MARINA HYDE
'You'll never look at a map the same way again' STEPHEN BUSH
'[A] clever, confounding history' PATRICK MAGUIRE
'A witty grand tour' DORIAN LYNSKEY
'Warm, funny and sharply political' PHIL TINLINE

In the press:
'[A] sprightly telling' New Statesman
'Open and inviting' History Today
'Wonderfully nerdy - and at times shocking' Byline Times
'A diverting and informative read' theartsdesk.com