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Atlas of Improbable Places : A Journey to the World's Most Unusual Corners

Atlas of Improbable Places : A Journey to the World's Most Unusual Corners

Author: Travis Elborough
Publisher: Aurum Press
Publication Date: 06 Jul 2021
ISBN-13: 9780711264014
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Description


'Atlas of Improbable Places has that rare, through-the-wardrobe quality. It is a delightful compendium of the strangest places on the planet.'
DAILY TELEGRAPH
2020 WINNER OF THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR Atlas of Vanishing Places.
In Atlas of Improbable Places, Travis Elborough goes in search of the obscure and bizarre, the beautiful and arcane. His unique atlas shows you the modern world from surprising new vantage points. Discover the secret Soviet city of Zheleznogorsk and the church tower of San Juan Parangaricutiro, miraculously still standing as the sole survivor of a town sunk by lava. Explore the underground realms of Beijing and Berlin, dug for refuge and espionage, and the floating worlds of remote Palmerston and the macabre Island of Dolls.
The truths and myths behind these hidden lairs, forgotten cities and improbable wonders are as varied as the destinations themselves. These curious places are not just extraordinary sights but reflections on our relationship with the world around us. Acclaimed author and social commentator, Travis Elborough, is a marvellous travel guide to the world's most unusual corners.
'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


Table of 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


Author Description


Travis Elborough is an author and social commentator. His books include the four titles in the Unexpected Atlases series - Atlas of Improbable Places, Atlas of the Unexpected, Atlas of Vanishing Places and Atlas of Forgotten Places, together with A Traveller's Year, A London Year, The Long-Player Goodbye, Being A Writer and A Walk in the Park: The Life and Times of a People's Institution. Travis is a regular contributor to Radio 4 and the Guardian, and has penned articles on all aspects of travel and culture, from pirates in the Caribbean to donkeys at the British seaside. He has written for the Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, BBC History Magazine and Kinfolk among others.






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