Atlas of Dark Destinations

by Peter Hohenhaus

Reaching some of the darkest and most unsettling corners of the world, this is a compendium of travel destinations like no other. Author Peter Hohenhaus has visited and photographed all the places featured in the book, and brings his first-hand knowledge to the reader. Dark tourism has seen a surge in popularity in the last decade and this is the first book to bring together 300 destinations in a readable and fascinating guide. From nuclear bunkers and disaster sites to strange medical museums and eerie catacombs, this book has something for everyone who seeks a travel experience with true meaning.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Collections, Atlases, Dark

352 pages, Hardcover

Published October 26, 2021

Reviews

[Emily Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think a more fitting title would be "Atlas of WW2, Cold War, and Modern War Destinations: Locations of Places Only This Author has Visited; Dear God Please Don't Read Cover to Cover"
Still, I learned a bit of history and cool fun facts.

[bookstories_travels🪐 · Rating 5 out of 5]

En primer lugar me gustaría agradecer a la editorial Blume y a Babelio en español que me hayan enviado este ejemplar de “Atlas de los Lugares Oscuros” por medio de la última edición de Masa Critica.

No conocía de antes a la editorial Blume, y debo decir que me ha sorprendido mucho por su labor con este volumen. Se nota mucho todo el tiempo y mimo invertido en él, cada detalle está más que cuidado. Y eso es justo lo que exigía la obra que nos propone Peter Hohenhaus. En ella, el autor nos presenta varios lugares del mundo que son interesantes y relevantes por los diferentes acontecimientos tétricos de los que fueron escenario. Dichos lugares se han convertido en visitas obligadas para todos los interesados o todos los amantes en un nuevo tipo de turismo que está un auge desde hace unos años, el denominado turismo oscuro, que se basa en que el viajero llegue a lugares de trágica importancia con el fin de entender mejor diferentes acontecimientos históricos y la importancia de estas consecuencias.

El libro es un atlas que a modo de guia de viaje está enfocado en un tipo concreto de turismo. Hohenhaus tiene una pluma ágil y directa, justo lo que precisa esta obra. A cada escenario que trata le dedica lo justo y necesario, sin irse por las ramas. Eso es algo que se agradece mucho, ya que hay muchos sitios y extenderse demasiado en un lugar podría hacer que lector se cansase en demasía. Además me ha gustado que se haya movido entre cuestiones históricas y políticas con gran asepsia e imparcialidad.

Como ya he señalado antes, el libro es una auténtica maravilla visual. Es un volumen en gran formato, con fotos a todo color y lleno de información. Los diferentes lugares que se proponen en esta obra están organizados según la parte del mundo en el que se encuentran. Dicha colocación no se limita a lo meramente continental, pues cada continente está subdividido en diferentes regiones. Eso hace más fácil y más ágil la lectura, por lo que es todo un punto a favor. Cada una de estas subdivisiones viene con una pequeña introducción donde se nos habla de cómo están las cosas en el plano político y en lo concerniente al turismo en esa parte del mundo, amén de un mapa de la zona en la que resaltan los puntos que se van a conocer en las siguientes páginas.

Y respecto al texto del atlas, éste me ha sorprendido gratamente. Es cierto que, por motivos de espacio la letra del libro es muy pequeña. Eso ha hecho que a veces me haya sentido un poco agobiada mientras leía. Pero me parece un precio a pagar mínimo. Y es que todo lo que el autor escribe no tiene desperdicio. Todo es muy interesante, y no se limita solo a contar la historia del lugar del que se ocupa y a decir qué es lo que tiene de interesante. Todo el texto está jalonado con informaciones prácticas y curiosidades, hay mucha información y toda ella es muy variada. De hecho, el autor se detiene en ciertas cuestiones históricas o de carácter científico que ayudan al lector más profano a comprender porque el sitio que se está tratando en ese momento es tan importante o interesante. Se nota que el autor conoce la inmensa mayoría de estos lugares y los ha estudiado en profundidad, todo ello da al libro un plus de realismo que es muy de agradecer, ya que no endulza nada (en ningún sentido, ni histórico, ni emocional, ni turístico) y en todo el texto se nota mucha sinceridad a la hora de tratar cada uno de los sitios. Y eso es algo de agradecer, desde una vertiente turística y cultural ayuda mucho al lector ha hacerse una idea exacta de que puede encontrarse si va ahí. A esto hay que sumarle que el libro se ha escrito el año pasado y se acaba de publicar este mismo año, por lo que todos los datos que aparecen en él son bastante exactos.

También es muy interesante y esclarecedor que al principio de cada entrada (además de indicar si su ubicación etc.) hay dos calificaciones. La primera designa la calidad del lugar según lo accesible y bien acondicionado que esté para el turismo. La segunda cuantifica el grado de oscuridad del lugar a explorar. Ambas escalas me han parecido muy interesantes a la hora de valorar cada lugar.

No obstante, reconozco que hay una cuestión que es lo único que no ha terminado de convencerme de este libro: en primer lugar, considero que el autor tendría que haber introducido más variedad de lugares y monumentos, tanto en lo concerniente a la historia, como en lo referente a la temática. Hohenhaus, en la introducción, explica el porque, pero a mi eso no ha terminado de convencerme. Todo el atlas se centra en un tipo concreto de sitios (algunos más enfocados al turismo que otros), aquellos en los que hubo catástrofes naturales, fueron testigos de holocaustos o matanzas indiscriminadas, o escenarios de investigaciones o desgracias de tipo nuclear o relacionado con la ingeniería. Básicamente el libro se reduce solo a eso, con alguna excepción, claro está. Aunque valoro muy positivamente que el autor no haya caído en tratar un tipo de turismo que se nutre de desgracias como la pobreza y el suicidio (como señala también en la introducción), creo que el libro hubiera sido más variado y dinámico si también se hubiera tratado otro tipo de escenarios y el espectro cronológico hubiera sido más amplio. Al centrarse solo en una tipología concreta de sitios a estudiar, y que se retrotraen, como mucho, al siglo XVIII, el autor pierde la oportunidad de poder llegar a un mayor espectro de público, ya que no a todo el mundo le interesan los mismos lugares y periodos históricos.

También echo en falta que se ahonde más en ciertas cuestiones como el genocidio armenio o la guerra de los Balcanes. Especialmente en el sentido de que, como dije antes, hay páginas en las que el autor se para a dar muchas explicaciones de temas transversales que aparecen en el atlas, explicaciones que ayudan a entender que tipo de lugar estamos conociendo. Es cierto que se profundiza en muchos de estas cuestiones históricas o tecnológicas, pero echo en falta que se traten todos los asuntos con igual precisión.

A modo de conclusión, recomiendo tomarse con calma la lectura de “Atlas de los Lugares Oscuros”. Creo sinceramente que es una lectura que debe hacerse de forma pausada, leer pocas páginas cada día, viendo en cada ocasión la parte del mundo que más te interese en esa ocasión y combinar esta lectura con otras. Creo que solo así se podrá disfrutar de este libro, ya que su lectura ininterrumpida puede resultar un tanto densa y abrumadora. Es cierto que a veces he tenido esa sensaciones, pero al finalizar la lectura ha predominado en mi una sensación concreta: la de impresionarme con la maldad que pueda albergar el ser humano y lo terrible que puede ser la naturaleza. Todos los lugares que aparecen en esta obra tienen una connotación trágica, algunos de ellos terrorífica. Mientras leía no podía evitar criticar al turismo actual, demasiado centrado en ver rápido todo lo posible y en hacerse la foto de turno para demostrar su visita al lugar. Este Atlas no es solo una oportunidad maravillosa para descubrir nuevos lugares y conocer más sobre la historia moderna y natural. Es también una oportunidad excelente para reflexionar sobre la historia moderna, sus consecuencias y como estas siguen persistiendo en la actualidad, la manera en que han moldeado el mundo tal y como lo conocemos. Y también es una oportunidad para reflexionar sobre el ser humano y hacia dónde va la humanidad, qué clase de mundo estamos creando y si eso es lo que realmente buscamos y queremos para nosotros y para los que vengan después.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know whether my problem is with this book or the whole 'Dark Destination' and 'Dark Tourism' or simply because it is an awful book. Although current 'practitioners' seem to believe that 'Dark Tourism/Dark Destinations is a very modern concept but in fact it is an essential part of the Romantic movement as it emerged just before, during and after the French revolution. The ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, the battlefield of Waterloo and the Lion Monument at Lucerne were to-do-musts for sensitive romantic tourists keen on contemplate mortality and the folly of earthly pursuits. Some might see the DNA of dark tourism within Christianity itself with pilgrimages to the Colosseum and other sites of the deaths commemoration of the early saints and martyrs. Of course none of those places are mentioned in this book but then this volume is very much a WWII and afterwards sort of book. Also the sites I mentioned, with the exception of the Lion Monument, are places where terrible things happened. This 'Atlas of Dark Destinations' is as much a compendium of museums and memorials.

Of course a memorial can be profoundly moving, personally, I find the Thiepval and Menin gate memorials with their vast lists of the missing dead almost unbearably sad (they are both mentioned in this book) . But most memorials are more worthy and well intentioned when they are not outright vulgar and crass than anything else. But surely the seeking out of 'Dark Destinations' is supposed to be more than a check list of funerary monuments visited. Surely the point is to try and reach out and get in touch with 'something'?

I cannot help wondering why places such as these were not included:

- the Crossbones Graveyard in Southwark, London.
- Any one of the over 4,000 Cillini burial places in Ireland
- the site of the Beslan school massacre
- Manila Film Centre
- the Dubrovka Theatre in Moscow
- Terezen in Czech Republic

I provide no details deliberately, to do justice requires way too much space but all of them are easily found via Goggle.

The absences in places like the USA are even more inexplicable, No mention of:

- The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
- The Monongah Mining Disaster

Surely both are more properly 'Dark Destinations' than the Titan Missile Museum or Museum of Nuclear Science and History?

Although the books attempts to be comprehensive are well intentioned I can't help thinking that by including Bulzudzha but ignoring sites like the Battle of Skipa Pass and the Pleven Panorama the author is showing a woeful lack of attention. The same might be said by the absence of any mention of the memorials to the dead of Dinant and Louvain in Belgium which is simply inexcusable. But the worst thing is the author's clear lack of understanding, if not absolute ignorance of, the events he writes about. The most glaring example of what happened at Sebrenica where the author explains:

"What was particularly painful for the outside world (it was pretty painful for the 8,000 dead men and boys as well and their families - Liam) was that the place...had been declared a UN safe area but the small contingent of Dutch UN soldiers were unable to prevent or stop the massacre. This failure contributed to the decision for NATO to intervene more forcefully to stop the war (well that's all right then - Liam)."

I won't begin to enumerate the things wrong with that statement. If doctors take an oath 'to do no harm' then so should compilers of books like this.

[Tahlia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still halfway through but WOW, the European section is nothing but modern war museums, sites etc. Did history not exist before this? Expand your sites a bit or just write a solely war locations book please - there are a lot of interesting places missing here which is a let down. Nothing from the French Revolution, no historical castles??

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is beautifully presented and well laid out. It has some interesting information and does highlight the possibilities of travel to some locations. However... some of the choices in the writing of descriptions feels insensitive. The locations in Europe are dominated by World War Two locations, which admittedly is, obviously, a huge event in recent times but surely there was other locations that could have been highlighted?

Also. Of all the places that could have been chosen for Australia... Port Arthur? Yeah. Wasn't impressed with that choice at all.

[Ijen Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book a full five stars because I believe it fully accomplishes what I think it’s trying to achieve - providing a global overview to the world’s many destinations with a darker side to them. That there are so many such destinations in the first place is cause for reflection on what we humans are doing to each other and to our planet.
Unlike some of the people who will read this book, I’m not really a “dark tourist”. I’m just someone with a lot of curiosity about the world and a general interest in history. This book works well in that it isn’t just for the real dark tourism buffs but can be read simply as an interesting collection to dip into, learning about places I’m unlikely to visit myself, and the photos in themselves add much to the overall work.
The book really is global in coverage, so everyone will find here sites of varying familiarity. I appreciated the author’s presentation of the whole dark tourism concept - the idea of respect and a desire to genuinely learn and understand. In an age of selfies and Instagram obsessions, the spirit of travel and the reflection and broadening of horizons that it should engender are important, and so I believe this book is a timely and positive contribution and I am glad to recommend it to all with an interest in the human and the natural world around us.

[Taylor Brystol · Rating 2 out of 5]

While technically the introduction states Peter Hohenhaus was interested in modern history, I was still surprised the focus was so heavy on the World Wars, nuclear weapons, and communism. There is so much more dark, even within the last 150 years. And if we take off the requirement of an actual museum or memorial the possibilities are legion.

I didn’t read Emily’s review in time and did read this cover to cover. It was a lot and by the end I was a little worn out by the bias.

Overall it’s a decent toe dip into many interesting pools. Look elsewhere if you are wanting to go for an actual swim.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like the author, I had already been a dark tourist/traveller before I understood that there was a term for describing my interest in visiting places with a sombre history. Years ago, I became aware of the author`s website www.dark-tourism.com, which since then has become an invaluable resource for my travel planning and destination research. Hence, I was delighted to learn about the publication of this book, which I expected to be as meticulously researched as the contents of the webpages. I haven`t been disappointed. Throughout the book`s 350+ pages, the author`s enthusiasm and dedication to the subject matter shines through. Given that the author has visited the vast majority of the featured places in person, the writing conveys a sense of tangible “immediacy” whose impact gets further amplified by the excellent photography that goes with it. As with any topic so immense and multi-faceted, obviously compromises have needed to be made in terms of scope and detail, yet the overall result feels very well balanced, with the contents being organized by geographic location and weighed by relative significance. This has resulted in a very well-structured encyclopaedia-like overview of hundreds of distinct places, providing both historical detail as well as contextual information of interest both for anyone who may want to visit those places in person, or simply to “armchair travel” to the destination in one`s mind. I especially appreciate how the author has managed to open up a field of interest which is viewed as somewhat strange by many by making it equally accessible and relatable. The personal dedication to this project can be felt throughout. Given this, the obviously countless hours of research, personal dedication and work that must have gone into putting this book together, the price is more than justified. It now ranks at the top of my list as a gift item to any friend or family member who has an interest in travel, irrespective of their particular traveling styles or preferences. I strongly recommend it.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars. What a trip of a book! This is a large reference guide to many of the world’s “dark tourism” spots. It is easy to read, there is much history throughout, and there are lots of great photos. These locations do not refer to UFO sites or ghost tours, but focus on real-life stuff like genocides, war museums, and nuclear weapon testing sites. For any traveler who gains appreciation from places like these? this is a great book and it makes me want to visit many of the places.

There is a ton to choose from, but some spots that looked fascinating were some of the Holocaust camps, the Stasi (East German spies) museum, “Stalin World” in Lithuania, Austria’s war museum that has the car of Franz Ferdinand, the DMZ in Korea, Easter Island, and the death museum in LA. I would add the Chinese Military Museum (in Beijing), sacrificial pyramids in Mexico, Zanzibar’s slave quarters, and the famous Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires from my travels. Also I wish there was more in the Enlightenment era’s revolutions. It was heavily focused on the 1900s with only a few exceptions (some good stuff about the Transatlantic Slave Trade for one).

I subtracted a half point because there was perhaps too much about the Holocaust, WWII, the Cold War/nukes, and natural disaster sites. I wish it spanned more time and some places were covered more than others (China and Latin America were weak I thought). Regardless, this is a fun book to check out and I can appreciate the concept of “dark tourism”.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. Peter Hohenhaus states "This book could be accused of a certain Eurocentrism" and he is only partially correct. It could be accused of modern day Europe Eurocentrism, aka "Cold War and WW2". This should have been Peter Hohenhaus "Dark Destinations I've visited" not an Atlas. Hohenhaus acknowledges that he doesn't have much to say about certain parts of the world, but that does not excuse the lack of representation. I would have rather he just focused on Europe since clearly that is where his interest truly lies rather than pretend to care about other places.

Also, some of the ratings seem very arbitrary. This book does have good info, and if it didn't try and sell itself as an "Atlas" and instead represented itself as Hohenhaus personal experience, I would have liked it enough to give it a 4. I still think the amount of times Hohenhaus repeats topics with locations (without really detailing why each stand out enough to have a portion of the book dedicated to it) can make the individual places seem less impactful.

[Nerd_Pilgrim · Rating 4 out of 5]

During a rainy day I preocupied myself with reading through this coffee table hardcover book. I wasn't disappointed, I love to travel to strange and obscure places myself. I do think that a certain level of subjectivity is on display here as what is "Dark" for one, may not be so for another.

I absolutely loved the pictures the author has provided and each give you an immediate encapsulation of the experience described. I suppose my only gripe was a personal one - I didn't feel like there were many points that I didn't know! Whether that means I'm well versed in Dark Tourism or that the choices are all presented to be read by a layman I am not sure, but either way I certainly was never bored reading about the various places, even though I knew almost all of them already.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. The descriptions and stories shared inside were well-written and easy to follow. It expanded my knowledge of modern world history and geography. Sadly, it reminded me just how cruel and inhumane people can be to each other. It also reminded me of how selective our attention can be toward atrocities. There was a lot in this book that I was ignorant of, which is extremely unfortunate.

[Danica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did I miss something? I was pretty sure North America included Canada, not just the USA. I understand not including every single country on the planet, but it's not as though there are no "Dark Destinations" to visit in Canada. I was genuinely disappointed in the exclusion of the country.

Besides this the books was fine, nothing that will stay with me, unfortunately. Sorry!

[Anna Harbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really well done! I wanted to like it more, but it only had one entry for Australia! How about Fremantle Prison? First Nations People massacre sites? Not to mention the old haunted pubs and hotels that dot this wide country?

[Michael Kerjman · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Chernobyl or Killing Fields of Kampucia were surely in, Red Square and Brest Fortress are definitely out of "dark places" definition to my opinion.
Rather poor info of Latin America also one of Antarctica and some islands in proximity contribute much to broadening the mind.

[Mikayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good and interesting read. Well researched. I did not read the blurb properly and was expecting older history, personally not a fan of modern history but if that's for you definitely have a look

[Kerry Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at some of the dark destinations you can visit around the world.

This was an interesting read and some fascinating places. It does focus more heavily on war related sites but there's some natural disasters too. Some I have heard of and others were new.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, but I wish there were more focus on places that weren't associated with war, as it felt like there were so many war entries and very few others.

[nat ! · Rating 1 out of 5]

excited to return this book back to the library!

[Grant Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idk why they don't just turn on the lights at these dark destinations. I'd be much easier to enjoy them if you could see them.

[Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book, focusing on the last 100 years of history, with photos, background information, and “dark” ratings.
More than 300 sites worldwide.
Ideal for travel planning.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful looking book but really is 75% war sites. Also so many sites that you can’t go to anymore.