Atlas of Improbable Places - (Unexpected Atlases) by Travis Elborough (Paperback)

About the Book

Atlas of Improbable Places shows the modern world from surprising new vantage points that will inspire urban explorers and armchair travellers alike to consider a new way of understanding the world we live in.

Book Synopsis

'This engrossing book traverses the heights and depths, the beauty and terror, of our world.' - THE OBSERVER

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.

'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
'Understatedly expressive.' - NEW YORK TIMES
'Deeply researched - and really worth your time.' - GQ

Review Quotes

"informative and enthusiastic, scholarly and amusing....once started it's nigh on impossible to put down."

--Hackney Citizen

"Guaranteed to whet the appetite of all budding urban explorers and teenagers wondering where to go on their gap year."

--Metro

"The photos are a treasure trove. The paper is divine. Travis Elborough's writing is sublime, and the cartographic skills of Alan Horsfield make this a gift you will not want to part with. So buy yourself something nice this Christmas.

--DJ Magazine

" 'A compendium of unlikely, curious and plain odd locales' seems something of a natural habitat for Travis Elborough, a cultural historian with a touch of the Betjemans and a lick of the Meades about him. From deserted mining towns in Nagasaki to the ever-decreasing Holland Island in Maryland, he and cartographer Horsfield do us a great service: making the world feel bigger."
--Monocle magazine

"an elegant, atmospheric remedy for creeping world-weariness."
--The Lady

"non-formulaic, deeply researched - and really worth your time. Co-author and cartographer Alan Horsfield brings a scientific rigour to its scope and design."
--The Book Club, GQ magazine

"this engrossing book traverses the heights and depths, the beauty and terror, of our world."--The Observer

"Atlas of Improbable Places: A Journey to the World's Most Unusual Corners by Travis Elborough, with maps by Alan Horsfield, is a curated guide to places that just don't quite make sense. Elborough organized the book by theme- "Dream Creations," "Floating Worlds," "Otherworldly Spaces," and more- rather than geography, which makes it easy to decide what genre of oddity or improbability you want to consider based on your mood. The large black and white photographs, coupled with beautifully simple maps, gives this book an air of sophistication and inspires more than a little awe."
--Book Riot

"Elborough's worldwide search for the curious, the surprising, the forgotten gems or the just plain eccentric is complemented splendidly by Horsfield's impeccable maps of those places that are so far off the beaten track that their very existence is virtually unknown - or even officially restricted. ...a worthy addition to any bookshelf, coffee table or E-reader..."
--Aga Living

"If you are one of those people whose mind is beginning to wander long before the bread sauce has gone cold, there should be only one book on your Christmas wish list this year... Atlas of Improbable Places by Travis Elborough and Alan Horsfield has that rare, through-the-wardrobe quality. It is a delightful compendium of the strangest places on the planet..." --Daily Telegraph

"The author makes a witty and well-informed guide to some of the world's most curious and bizarre locations."
--World of Cruising magazine

"This is a deliciously gloomy, sometimes spooky and often kooky collection of essays..."
--The Age, Australia

"With its identical towns, global corporations and digital landscapes, the modern world can seem quite uninspiring. But, for the British author Travis Elborough, interesting places do exist, you just need a way to find them."
--Jocks & Nerds

About the Author

Travis Elborough has been a freelance writer, author and cultural commentator for more than a decade now. His book include The Bus We Loved, a history of the Routemaster bus;The Long Player Goodbye, a hymn to vinyl records; and Wish You Were Here, a survey of the British beside the seaside. Elborough is a regular contributor to the Observer and the Guardian but has written for the Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, the Oldie, TATE etc., BBC History magazine and Kinfolk among others and frequently appears on BBC Radio 4 and Five Live.