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zippz's review
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
Interesting, though I'd rather they cover each place with a little more detail and nuance. They cared more about being funny than being accurate, which is sometimes what I'm in the mood for, but not what I was expecting going in.
mattmclean's review
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
This book was funnier than it is informative. I feel like this book could have been truly a good, possibly great read if the author balanced the humor with the historical context. Each extinct country recieved between three to four pages of history. Most of that page space was consumed by jokes. Consequently, while I enjoyed reading this, I retained very little. If there was more historical context added, this book would have killed it.
onthedig's review
I tried so so hard to like this book. The humor is great and there are some really funny bits but I just wasn't pulled in. I would totally recommend this for someone who likes the short formatting and is looking for more breadth than depth of knowledge. This book just happened to be how I found out breadth is not for me.
ronan900's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Racism
Moderate: Genocide, Deportation, Hate crime, and War
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
abookishpenguin's review against another edition
4.0
There are many countries and nations that no longer exist. The story of 48 of these nations is told in this book, summarising their rise and fall.
I really enjoyed this. History has always been more my thing that geography, and this book was in essence a history of 48 nations that no longer exist.
This could have been incredibly dry, but it wasn't. Humour persisted throughout the book, as some truly ridiculous origins and downfalls were described.
I listened to the audiobook version of this. I thought the narator was brilliant, really bringing the stories to life.
I really enjoyed this. History has always been more my thing that geography, and this book was in essence a history of 48 nations that no longer exist.
This could have been incredibly dry, but it wasn't. Humour persisted throughout the book, as some truly ridiculous origins and downfalls were described.
I listened to the audiobook version of this. I thought the narator was brilliant, really bringing the stories to life.