A History of the World in 47 Borders
The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps
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Narrated by:
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Jonn Elledge
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By:
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Jonn Elledge
About this listen
'Fascinating' TOM HOLLAND
'A delight from start to finish' MIRANDA SAWYER
'A novel and fascinating perspective on world history' BILL BRYSON
'By turns surprising, funny, bleak, ridiculous, or all four of those at once' GIDEON DEFOE
People have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, these lines might often have looked very different if a war or treaty or the decisions of a handful of tired Europeans had gone a different way. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does - and about the scale of human folly.
From the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to the reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders.
What listeners say about A History of the World in 47 Borders
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- Nick Walker
- 29-06-24
Pithy and informative
It's a breezy fascinating look at the world thru a powerful lens, works perfectly as thought provoking conversation. The quick chapters make for nice bite sized chunks to digest
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- Anonymous User
- 24-09-24
A fascinating journey across the borders of the world and time.
Engrossed from the beginning, a great delivery by a passionate writer and delivered with a good dose of humour.
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- Mick Kelly, author
- 01-07-24
Entertaining and informative book about a ridiculous subject
I laughed a lot while listening to this, and so will you if you enjoy the sight of puffed up, red-faced politicians, dictators and generals thumping the table while pointing at a map. Slightly sobering to remember how many people die as a result of the table-thumping.
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1 person found this helpful
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- MR D ROSCOE
- 28-07-24
Very breathless reading
Enjoyed listening to Mary stories and interesting background to international borders however I found it quite distracting at times but rather breathless reading often pausing for a breath mid sentence.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-07-24
Fascinating
Incredible level of detail communicated in an entertaining way. A very well researched work. Would definitely recommend it to people looking for an interesting read.
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