I read a digital ARC of the upcoming re-release of Atlas of Vanishing Places: The Lost Worlds as They Were and as They Are Today, and while it was maybe not as consistently fascinating as I had hoped, I must note that this format didn’t include the “beautiful maps” and “stunning colour photography” promised in the publisher’s blurb (there are some black and white photos, but, alas, I read an atlas without maps; perhaps unfair to rate). As for the writing: Recounting the stories of some three dozen or so “vanished and vanishing places”, author Travis Elborough’s approach and tone throughout is rather inconsistent — sometimes professorial, sometimes colloquial — and as each story only lasts a few pages, there’s not a lot of depth here. Again: it feels unfair to rate this without the maps (the original release won Illustrated Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards), but this book feels more like a jumping off point than the final word; coffee table book, not text book.

This is one that definitely requires the use of an appropriate app to view it. I can't wait to see an in-person copy once the book releases, I imagine it will be even better. This is how I would have loved to read history as a kid, and it is obviously still a path I am inclined to walk down since I requested it. The maps are well placed and the images do their best to help you visualize what we (obviously) can no longer see. I hope others enjoy it as much as I did.

Not quite like Atlas Obscura, but just as fun and informative with its pictures and extensive writing on the history of the location, as well as why it is now considered a vanished location; think Xandu or El Dorado.

A geographic and historic interesting piece on lost and vanishing places wiith a unique mixture of ancient disasters and the modern day influences.

I especially liked the section on lost places because ancient/ old civilisations have always fascinated me.
It is definitely more on the academic site and sometimes requires a little bit of historical (or religious as these often go and in hand) background knowledge to fully grasp the content.
Nevertheless even for novices with an interest in geography or history I would highly recommend having a look and this slightly different atlas!

I really loved the exploration of ancient places and modern ones that are rapidly shrinking/disappearing. I appreciated the addition of maps and photographs. A great non-fiction read.

This is the first book I've read that's non fiction! It was very informative on different places around the world! Quite enjoyable!

A good academic-style easy read. Short enough to read on a lazy afternoon, yet is packed full of well found research. I quite enjoyed the style of this book, with maps and pictures included. The short background stories on ancient civilizations or even modern places that are shrinking are quite insightful. I'm not sure how much of this could be based on facts, some of the information seems it could be speculation.

overall a good book to learn something new and kill an afternoon.

Atlas of Vanishing Places includes a lot of short histories of ancient cities, forgotten lands, shrinking places and threatened worlds and the reason why they are disappearing. I found them very interesting as I love history and anthropology. The book is also filled with maps and photographs of these places to make it even more vivid what has been or will be lost.

I would recommend this book to those who love history, maps, and would love to know more about places that we have lost to history.

A survey of lost cities rediscovered and places in danger of disappearing. Each is accompanied with a 2-3 page summary of its history, maps, and photos.

This was an interesting read perfect for those collectors of random facts, those interested in ancient cities unearthed and explored by archaeologists, and those wondering what places on earth are at most threat of disappearing due to various environmental and human factors. The ARC I received was in grayscale, but it looks like the actual book was in color which I would really like to see. It was hard to read some of the maps properly without the different coloration. It was a great balance of bite-sized text and photos/illustrations.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. The deaths of people due to natural disasters, disease, and wars come up in the histories of various places but no graphic depictions included.

<i>I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

First things first, I love the topographical map cover. This is part of Travis Elboroguh's Atlas of series, and the second one of this series I have read. This book covers places that are disappearing or have disappeared almost entirely. It is divided into ancient cities, forgotten lands, shrinking places, and threatened worlds. Within theses categories are places from around the world. Each section includes at least one photo and a good description of the location's history. I was disappointed to find that the photos are all in black and white, which gave the book a textbook feel. The descriptions were easy to read while still providing good information. I would have been interested in more practical information like if the featured location is open to visitors. Overall this was an interesting read and I can see it being used as a reference in a geography class.

Interesting, documented, and with nice photos. A must read if you are interested in disappeared or nearly disappeared civilizations.

Interessante, documentato e con delle belle foto. Da leggere se siete interessati alle civiltá scomparse o quasi.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you White Lion Publishing for the ARC.

This Atlas is truly a beautiful work. Packed into bite-size entries comprising four larger sections (Ancient Cities, Forgotten Lands, Shrinking Places, Threatened Worlds), this book is easy to pick up and put down multiple times without feeling lost. It's comprised of text, photos, and maps, which all help to drive home the beauty and geography of the "Vanishing Places."

I learned so much throughout this book about cities, rivers, swamps, and entire ancient metropolises... all once lost to time or soon to become so. As much a love letter to these places, this book also serves as a visceral call to action to protect the vanishing places we have left.

In addition to all of the locales I hadn't heard of, it was also jarring to be confronted with the deterioration of many familiar places - the Great Barrier Reef, the Everglades, Glacier National Park, etc. Seeing the maps superimposed with changes in coastlines over the decades is particularly sobering.

Overall, it's a lovely, informative, and important work, as well as an easy and fascinating read.

Well researched book of places that have disappeared or about to. Some I had heard of before, would be good to explore some of the sites and look at the evidence. The kindle version doesn’t do justice to the photos and explanations. The actual hardback would probably be best format for this book. Thank you #NetGalley for the book to review.

I did not like this book :(. I love love loved the concept, but found it super disappointing. The entries for each place seemed to be the opposite of what interested me, and I knew a lot about most of them. The cover is super pretty, and some of the places had some interesting facts.

Thank you for the opportunity to read Atlas of Vanishing Places by Travis Elborough. I had very high expectations for this book, and although it is interesting in parts, there is an awful lot of speculation, and I thought that it would be based more on solid facts

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe my expectations for this book were too high, but it wasn't quite what I expected.

The book covers colonies or cities around the world that vanished or disappeared. Some of these stories are backed up with information by scientists or archeologists but a lot of the stories are speculation. There's not a lot of real pictures or maps and a lot of the drawings are sketches. It's an interesting book to flip through and look at stories like the Roanoke colony or a city-within-a-city in Algeria, but each story is only a few pages long.

Overall not what I expected.

I reviewed this book with an eye towards its utility in the 1st year undergraduate history classroom. I teach 1st year and transfer students primarily, a 100-level World History course that has dual aims: first, introducing the basics of historical and empirical research skills (academic literacy, source/data collection, analysis, library use, written communication, among others) and second, emphasizing the connection between the present and the past through showing students the historical origins and contributing factors of some of the worlds environmental, economic, social, and political problems. We cover the history of racism, gendered disparities, queer histories, war, genocide, etc. In short, this is a decolonizing curriculum.

As many of my colleagues teaching similar courses can attest, professors in my position have a perennial problem finding suitable materials to use in our courses. Our materials need to be accessible in terms of language and cost; they need to be a certain length or have a certain depth to them that satisfies the intellectual integrity of the course, but is not overly theoretical or requires a prerequisite store of knowledge. Our courses have fixed learning outcomes that need to be met. Our students come from varied academic backgrounds, enter the classroom with varied levels of writing, reading, and analytical skills, which we have to accommodate.

A book like Atlas of Vanishing Places: The Lost Worlds as They Were and as They Are Today is a boon.

Here are the reasons why: first, the book is premised on the idea that artifacts as massive as cities and geological features are not eternal, immune to change or -- more significantly -- to human savaging. Elborough cites the Aral Sea and its incredibly rapid dissolution, within one person's lifetime, from a thriving marine ecology to an arid nothingness, as the inspiration for this collection of places that once thrived as the Aral Sea did and are now as dry and lifeless as it has become. This book forces the reader to acknowledge the power of time and the inevitability of change. I can't think of better evidence to emphasize the importance of history.

Second, the book is divided into short, digestible chapters which can be discretely cut out from the book and assigned, according to their fit into the course curriculum. Each chapter is about four to six pages long.

Third, the places and times explored in this collection cover the breadth and width of the world, every era of human history; it would be easy for an educator to focus in on the geographic region or time period of their choice. The book covers so much from ancient cities to contemporary and very recognizable landmarks: Timbuktoo to River Fleet in London.

Last, Elborough also provides the reader with sources and a bibliography. Some sources are better than others, but these are a gift to any student at the entry-point of a research project. Atlas of Vanishing Places: The Lost Worlds as They Were and as They Are Today serves as an excellent tertiary historical source, something to pique students' interests, something to give them a kick start on a research project.

I could easily see the use of this book in survey level archaeology courses, in introductory cultural anthropology course, in ancient or modern world history classes. In my particular case, it works very well in the Humans and Environment module of my class, where we cover the relationship between human behavior and environmental outcomes.

Atlas of Vanishing Places: The Lost Worlds as they were and as they are today by Travis Elborough. This was a wonderful book to read and more importantly gaze at the detailed maps and incredible black and white photographs. Credit for the maps goes to Martin Brown. As the long title details this is a book about place gone, forgotten, shrinking and threatened. Some of the places I have heard of while many were either not known to meet of forgotten that one day they actually did exist. I view this book not as a checklist of places to go but to curl up in a comfy chair and enjoy the photographs that go along with the 180 places described in the book. If a book with black and white photographs can be a “coffee table” book this is certainly one!

This was a really lovely coffee table book that gives a brief overview of many vanished or vanishing places. Perfect for curling up with a cup of tea and letting your imagination wander!

Incredibly put together book of places that are vanishing. I absolutely love this book. It provides an atlas and a write up on each place. This book is like a vacation within the pages.