A History of the World in 47 Borders - The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps

This is a fascinating history of the world, told through the messy and often ill-conceived demarcations of geopolitical, national and cultural borders. Expansionism, irredentism, reclaim, rename - all very familiar because drawing lines on maps has been a thing since maps were there to be drawn on. The real world causes and consequences of many of these seemingly arbitrary cartographic carve-ups have been long-reaching conflicts. Author Jonn Elledge tells the patchworking story of borders, exposes the scale of human folly involved, and shows how - minus a few meetings of European leaders - the world could look very different.

Paperback, 384 pages
Measures 19.8 x 12.9cm