Full Description
'A delightful compendium of the strangest places on the planet.'
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Travel in search of the obscure and bizarre, the beautiful and arcane in a unique atlas showing the modern world from surprising new vantage points.
Discover the macabre Island of Dolls. Wonder at San Juan Parangaricutiro's church tower, the sole survivor in a town sunk by lava. Explore Beijing and Berlin's labyrinths, home to both refugees and espionage. Marvel at nature's own extraordinary masterpieces: the magical underground river shaped like a dragon's mouth in the Philippines and Palmerston, a floating world.
The truths and myths behind these hidden lairs, forgotten cities and improbable wonders are as varied and intriguing as the destinations themselves. Acclaimed author and social commentator Travis Elborough is a marvellous travel guide to the world's most unusual corners on this fascinating voyage through geography, taking travel writing to new heights.
'This engrossing book traverses the heights and depths, the beauty and terror, of our world.'
THE OBSERVER
'Understatedly expressive'
NEW YORK TIMES
'Deeply researched - and really worth your time'GQ
Contents
DREAM CREATIONS
FLEVOPOLDER
The region reclaimed from the sea
ZHELEZNOGORSK
Former closed Soviet city
FREE CHRISTIANIA
Squatter-city
AUROVILLE
1960s utopian city
SLAB CITY
The squatter metropolis
PORTMEIRION
The Village
ZVYOZDNY GORODOK
Star City
HEARST CASTLE
Randolph Hearst's Xanadu-esque home
DESERTED DESTINATIONS
TEUFELSBERG
Abandoned U.S. spy station
PRESIDIO MODELO
Cuba's most notorious former penitentiary
BATTLESHIP ISLAND
Deserted mining settlement
NO MAN'S LAND FORT
A long shunned coastal bulwark
THE LOST CITY OF SAN JUAN PARANGARICUTIRO
Abandoned after the eruption of 1943
HUMBERSTONE AND SANTA LAURA
Redundant saltpetre works
WONDERLAND
Abandoned Disneyland-style theme park
ORADOUR-SUR-GLANE
Village left abandoned since the Second World War
MUYNAK
Drained port
WITTENOOM
Asbestos-ridden industrial town
ANI, KARS
Ruins of one-time capital of the Armenian Empire
CONCRETE CITY
Garden city of the anthracite region
VAROSHA
Abandoned tourist resort
ARCHITECTURAL ODDITIES
MARYHILL STONEHENGE
Concrete Stonehenge
SPIJKENISSE
The 'real' fictional euro bridges
KABAYAN
The Ibaloi mummy caves
SANTURIO MADONNA DELLA CORONA
Chapel hangs midway down a sheer cliffside
LONDON BRIDGE, LAKE HAVASU
The 1831 London Bridge
THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE MONUMENT
Controversial symbol of independence
TEN COMMANDMENTS MOUNTAIN
The Fields of the Wood
FLOATING WORLDS
THE PALM 105
An artificial island paradise
THE KINGDOM OF REDONDA
Uninhabited Caribbean island
POVEGLIA ISLAND
Former plague quarantine island
GREAT BLASKET
Uninhabited since 1954
HOLLAND ISLAND
Island slowly being eroded by the water
PALMERSTON
A community formed in its founder's image
WRANGEL ISLAND
A place frozen in time
MOUNT RORAIMA
The Lost World
ROSS ISLAND
British Indian penal settlement
HIRTA
The Edge of the World
OTHERWORLDLY SPACES
AOKIGAHARA
The Demon Forest
COLMA
City of the dead
LEAP CASTLE
The world's most haunted residence
DARVAZA CRATER
Door to Hell
THE HILL OF CROSSES
Home to some 100,000 crosses
THE ISLAND OF DOLLS
A terrifying attraction
SUBTERRANEAN REALMS
THE UNDERGROUND POSTAL RAILWAY
Rail Mail
COLD WAR SPY TUNNEL
The telephone tapping centre
BEIJING UNDERGROUND
Bunkers to beat the bomb
MOOSE JAW
Illicit tunnels
CINCINNATI
Abandoned subway
ZKP TAGANSKY, AKA BUNKER 42
Cold War communications bunker
PUERTO PRINCESA
Subterranean river
