num_pages: 240
description: These are the stories of fifty countries that once existed but have now have been erased from the map. Varying vastly in size and shape location and longevity they are united by one fact: all of them endured long enough to issue their own stamps.Some of their names such as Biafra or New Brunswick will be relatively familiar. Others such as Labuan Tannu Tuva and Inini are far less recognizable. But all of these lost nations have stories to tell whether they were as short- lived as Eastern Karelia which lasted only a few weeks during the Soviet Finnish War of 1922 or as long- lasting as the Orange Free State a Boer Republic that celebrated fifty years as an independent state in the late 1800s. Their broad spectrum reflects the entire history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with its ideologies imperialism waves of immigration and conflicts both major and minor.The motifs and symbols chosen for stamps have always served as a form of national self- presentation an expression of the aims and ambitions of the ruling authorities. Drawing on fiction and eye- witness accounts as well as historical sources Bjorn Berges witty text casts an unconventional eye on these lesser- known nations. Nowherelands is a different kind of history book that will intrigue anyone keen to understand what makes a nation a nation.
language: None
title: Nowherelands: An Atlas of Vanished Countries 1840-1975
publisher: Thames  Hudson