A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders: Surprising Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps by Jonn Elledge

#1 International Bestseller | National Bestseller Every border tells a surprising story in this uncommonly enlightening history that will change the way you understand the world “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, The Atlas of Extinct Countries A single boundary might, upon closer inspection, reveal eons of history―from epic tales of conquest, treaties, and alliances to intimate, all-too-human stories of love, greed, and folly. None of the lines we know today were inevitable, and all might have looked quite different if not for the intricate interplay of chance and ambition. From the very first maps in Egypt to the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilization, from the profound shift in meaning of the Mason-Dixon Line to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, and from the dark consequences of Detroit’s city limits to the intriguing reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a singular look at all of human history―told through its most captivating border stories. 22 B&W maps Read more

From the Publisher The Local Government Reforms of Emperor Napoleon I Napoleon’s empire at its greatest extent, c. 1812, overlaid on modern boundaries. The darker line shows the borders of the expanded France; the lighter one, client states. The empire of Austria was sometimes allied, too. The Local Government Reforms of Emperor Napoleon I The American Invasion of Mexico The Results of the Scramble for Africa How the World Froze Territorial Claims in Antarctica A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders: Surprising Stories Behind the Lin... Elledge’s Nontrivial Trivia: The Seriously Enlightening Stories Behind Suppos... Unproven, Unlikely, and Firmly Believed: Why We Fall for History’s Most Seduc... The World as We Built It: The 35 Inventions that Define Modern Life Add to Cart Add to Cart Add to Cart Add to Cart Customer Reviews 152 — 1 — Price $15 50 $17 95 $18 95 $24 95 no data no data no data no data