A fantastic summer read that I think readers of all ages would thoroughly enjoy. I highly recommend this book, especially if you want something to keep you full wondering what will happen next. Great book overall

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I really enjoy Elborough's books. The only thing that would make them better is more photographs. I have purchased them for my library and they have good circulation statistics. I hope he keeps writing.

A very interesting read. Most of the unusual places mentioned in this book needed a cursory internet search which made it a rollicking read altogether.

Atlas of Improbable Places allowed me to revisit some locations that I already knew while also letting me virtually travel to new and exciting places. This well written guide really kept my interest and I found myself wanting to turn the next page so I could discover more hidden gems in the world.
I think that this book could be used as a way to create an exciting itinerary of world travel and exploration.

Overall I enjoyed this armchair travel. The places visited were interesting and varied. Each place is described with some short text and maybe a photograph. The writing could have been a little less textbook. I would have loved larger maps and more illustrations. Overall these quick trips to unusual places were fun.

Interesting tidbits about some of the world's strangest places. A bit unbalanced: some entries had a couple of paragraphs, some had a couple of pages - and each had only one photograph (would've loved more). At times the text was a bit "history book"-ish, too ("Just the facts, ma'am") and lacked the creative splash that these one-of-a-kind places deserve.

Improbable, oddities, dreamy, deserted and more there is a place in one of these categories for everyone's taste. Travis Elborough takes us on a journey around the world to discover unique places. I liked to read the history of some of these places or the motivation behind it. It was a very interesting reading and I almost felt like I was traveling again.

"Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are."
Mason Cooley

Especially in coronatimes like these - when travelling is not an easy feat - reading books about special places all around the world really inspires me.

In this book 51 places are discussed and they're divided in 6 categories:
- dream creations
- deserted destinations
- architectural oddities
- floating worlds
- otherworldly spaces
- subterranean realms

Although I'd already heard of some of the mentioned places, the author always succeeded to learn me some new facts about them.
Other places were totally unknown to me and thus formed interesting introductions to some of the earth's strangest places.

As you can also read in the extensive biography on his website, Travis Elborough is an acclaimed author and social commentator. He already wrote several books, including 'Atlas of Vanishing Places' which won the 2020 Illustrated Book of the Year Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award.

In 'Atlas of Improbable Places' every continent is represented and various environments are talked about (both natural ones conquered and artificial ones made by humankind).
The only downpoint was the fact that the underlying explanation was always quite negative. The places that were selected for this book didn't often appeal to that positive 'sense of wonder' you can experience when discovering new places. They rather showed the darker side of humanity (war, discrimination, …) and of nature (disasters, inhospitable places, ...).
But besides that, the info which was given always contained interesting facts and certainly prompted me to look for footage. So if you'd like to know where you can find the door to hell, the creepy doll island or some of the other interesting discussed places, feel free to head over to my blog: https://world-of-tau.blogspot.com/2021/09/atlas-of-improbable-places.html


*Thanks to NetGalley and 'Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, Aurum' for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy of the book for a review.
Travis has presented places in the world that exist that are unknown and have unique stories. They are written in a few pages, perhaps and introduction accompanied by a black and white picture.

For example, there are underground areas in Bejing and Berlin, an abandoned amusement part in China, or a star city for training astronauts. The places are divided into areas like deserted, floating, architectural, or dreams.

If you like to travel and want to know about something different you will like this book. I like the short stories. It is not a travel guide. It is more like information on the unusual places to be found in the world.

If you are curious like me it is worth a look.

This was a quick and interesting read. I liked what it did but it did feel a little brief and could have been expanded much more. I liked the pictures and how they were used to highlight the stories about the place.

I enjoyed this and found all the different places fascinating. I admire the amount of research that will have gone into it. I would have liked a bit more detail but I know that’s not the nature of an atlas.

Atlas of improbable places by Travis Elborough
I was very intrigued when I saw this book and it did not disappoint me. This wonderful book covers places are the world under the sections : dream creators, deserted destinations, architectural oddities, floating worlds, otherworldly places and finishes with subterranean realms. The author provides a picture of areas unknown and a short history of each places from all corners of the globe. No stone unturned. These are pretty amazing places that many people won't of heard of or known existed without this book. They are really interesting. If you like learning about the obscure places in the world or like travelling to the hidden wonders this planet has. This book is for you. I really enjoyed travelling to these places in my imagination. I really wished I could travel in person to see them but this book is the next best thing. Many thanks to the author and publishers for producing this wonderful book to take us on a journey of a lifetime.

Not Your Usual Suspects

I love books like this, but after a while they can start to blend together and overlap, with visits to the same unusual destinations reappearing from volume to volume. This book has a little bit of that, but by and large it is composed mainly of new and delightfully oddball or intriguing places.

The section headings give you a good sense of what to expect - Dream Creations, Deserted Destinations, Architectural Oddities, Floating Worlds, Otherworldly Spaces, and Subterranean Realms. You can't ask for much more than that in terms of odd and unusual venues.

Our author is congenial and informative, with a breezy but engaging style, and an affable, dry wit. Perfect company, and just right for some relaxing and yet imaginative arm chair musing. A nice choice.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I recently read the similar "An Atlas of Extinct Countries" and bemoaned the sacrifice of content for attempts at humor. So I was extremely pleased to find the historical content not sacrificed here and yet somehow, there is still enough humor to keep you entertained.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Like most people, I love travelling, and that hasn't been possible since the pandemic hit. This book was a great way to travel around the world without leaving the house.

Even though I found the book fascinating, it is shallow when talking about most places. In some cases, places I found more interesting, I felt the need to search for more pictures and info. I believe that a deep description of places was not the purpose of the book, though.

I wished that at least the book had more pictures and that they were in color, and not just black and white.

I do recommend you give the book a try if you want to learn a bit about different and unique places around the world.

In Twitter:
Whilst we’re getting used to the idea that we can maybe think about travelling again soon, reading about travel is a great way to escape in your mind. ‘Atlas of Improbable Places’ by Travis Elborough @QuartoKnows https://t.co/yh9sabpLkW

• Atlas of Improbable Places- A Journey to the World’s Most Unusual Corners by Travis Elborough. I was unfamiliar with Mr. Elborough’s work, so I did a Google/Amazon search and was surprised that he is (1) young- born in 1971, (2) prolific- at least 10 books to his name and (3) not a surprise, he is English. This book was fun to read and is complimented well with a photograph and global coordinates of the 50 or so improbable places he has selected. I do not think this book can be used to create a bucket list for many people as the places are yes improbable, but in many cases, far from any place to call home for a night and not too exciting. As an example; Zheleznogorsk – a secret city in Siberia founded in 1950 for plutonium production. Now used to make among other things. Russia’s version of GPS. Was isolated and boring and well now just boring.
As I read this book, I was googling the locations and interesting many would appear as the first possible match after only 2 or 3 letters.
• I have been to only two; Colma City just South of San Francisco which is home to over 1,000,000 million graves and whose moto is “It’s great to be alive!” and Aokigahara near Mt. Fuji Japan that has the 2nd highest number of suicides just behind the Golden Gate Bridge.
All in all, an interesting read.

With Covid I miss travelling and this has given me a boost of travelling crave! Such an interesting volume and loved that it was divided into different categories.

A thorough and intriguing collection of unique locations throughout the world. Each location has a couple pages dedicated to it, which makes this dense read feel much lighter than it is. There are pictures and illustrations throughout to keep the reader engaged. A fantastic read for lovers of geography, history/micro-histories, and the obscure.