A review by anjana
Atlas of the Unexpected: Haphazard Discoveries, Chance Places and Unimaginable Destinations by Travis Elborough

5.0

I have always been the sort of person who keeps nuggets of random information with me to use as conversation fillers and maybe for people to think I am wacky enough to start an interesting conversation with.This has bits of random facts that would hook most people to its pages. There is not much of an order in which the information is revealed to us, but is segregated into broad topics based on the discovery itself(this was slightly ambiguous but the rest of the content made me forget that fact, the segregation seemed almost irrelevant).

There are a few stories mentioned here that I have come across in passing over the years but now had a chance to know a more detailed account. I am sure there were many more places that could have been featured in this, but the focus was on the most prominent of those across the world. There are very detailed maps, a sort of timeline and even the geographic coordinates for those thus inclined. It is another book that can grace your shelf for years to come and will continue to see daily use because it can not all be read in one go and needs to be savoured and discussed (preferably animatedly) in bits and pieces.
I bought a copy of the book because I was unable to complete the Advance review copy within the allotted time and the little I had read fascinated me enough to break out of my habit of not randomly purchasing books
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