Atlas of Improbable Places: A Journey to the World's Most Unusual Corners

Unexpected Atlases

by Travis Elborough

‘ 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

 

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Geography, History, Maps, Travelogue, Cartography

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a person who truly enjoys traveling. I have been to every continent (save Antarctica) and am always looking for new and interesting things to see and do. Thus this Atlas was a very cool thing.

It is a listing, with description, of 51 of the oddest things out in the world to see. For example in Wales there is a place called Portmeirion. A beautiful architectural work it boasts even a full scale ship model on its grounds.

Or the Hearst Castle in California, or Teufelsberg in Berlin where this is an abandoned Cold War era spy station, Battleship Island an abandoned city on an island in Japan, etc.

The 51 entries are subdivided into sections which are:
Dream Creations
Deserted Destinations
Architectural Oddities
Floating Worlds
Otherworldly Spaces
Subterranean Realms

Each entry is shown on a map and has pictures and a description of what makes this place unusual. All in all this is a must read for the adventurous traveler who likes to see things outside of the tourist haunts. Some of these I have already seen and many I have not. Time to change that..thanks to this book that points out some of the coolest odd places on Earth.

[Barbara K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been picking away at this book for months now, reading a section or a chapter in odd moments. I’m typically more of a through-reader, so why was this the case?

The answer is that for me, the book was remarkably inconsistent. Not the writing, which was of overall high quality. But many of Elborough’s selections were just not of interest to me.

The section headings are
Dream Creations, cities or estates that represent the vision(s) of individuals or groups.
Deserted Destinations, once vibrant locations now abandoned.
Architectural Oddities, creations (or re-creations) in incongruous locations.
Floating Worlds, remote or distinctive islands (including the “sky island” of Mt. Roraima.)
Otherworldly Spaces, haunted or otherwise uncanny sites.
Subterranean Realms, underground sites, primarily industrial or military, generally now defunct.

The Floating Worlds section included the most pieces of interest for me; Deserted Destinations, the least. Scattered throughout the book are descriptions of former military installations, and these were my least favorites. Not from a pacifist perspective, but because abandoned concrete jungles just hold no appeal for me.

Sadly, I don’t think I can really recommend this book, except perhaps to those already widely traveled who are looking for more obscure locations. (Note, though, that not every listing is obscure - Portmeiron and Hearst Castle, for instance, are widely known.)

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives the reader a peek into some of the quirkiest corners of our world, both natural and man-made. Of the latter, I can only think that some people have very big dreams, and others just have too much money!

But on balance I think I was more drawn to the built/created places, possibly because of what they say about the people behind their conception. And generally these were the ones with the fascinating bits of history and/or social commentary to go with them. For example, there's the story of the bridges depicted on the Euro notes. They weren't allowed to be real bridges when the designs were commissioned - rather they were to be examples of different styles of bridges, based on design elements. But now there is a town in the Netherlands that attracts probably more tourists than it should, because it went ahead and built all the bridges across its canals! Another one that stuck with me was the African Renaissance Monument in Senegal - on the westernmost point of Africa - built by a North Korean company specialising in propaganda paintings, murals and monumental statues. The Senegalese government was (embarrassingly!) unable to pay for the monument, but luckily the North Koreans accepted payment in kind, in the form of land, which they sold for a profit!

The author must have had an absolute ball researching this book.

[Radwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

English Review Below.

مكنتش عارفة أن الكتاب ده جزء من سلسلة لمجموعة من كتب مشابهة أصدرتها ناشيونال جيوغرافيك، ودي كانت مفاجأة لطيفة، لأن الكتاب عجبني جدا، وده هيخليني أرجع أتفقد الكتابين التانيين. الكتاب ده كما يتضح من عنوانه هو أطلس عن الأماكن الغريبة، وأغلبها تصلح لتكون بذرة أو نواة روايات وأفلام رعب أو خيال وده حصل بالفعل في حالات كتيرة، وده شيء مذهل.
كل مكان بيتحدث عنه فيما لا يزيد عن 5 صفحات، مرفقة بصورة بالأبيض والأسود للمكان، لكن لقيت نفسي بدور على غوغل عن كل اسم، عشان أشوف صور ملونة وأكون صورة أكبر وأفضل للمكان. بيتعمق كل فصل بشكل كاف وجيد في كل مكان، وبما أن الكتاب إصدار 2016، فهو مش قديم، وأغلب الأماكن في الكتاب على نفس حالتها التي تحدث عنها ولم يتغير شيء.
الكتاب غير مترجم للأسف لكن أسلوب الكتابة غير معقد وسهل القراءة وده شيء أنا بقدره في إصدارات ناشيونال جيوغرافيك لما بقراها بالإنجليزية.

I didn't know this was part of a series of "atlas" books by National Geographic, this was a nice surprise, since I enjoyed this one a lot, I might have to go back and check the other two.
The title is pretty self-explanatory, it's an atlas of improbable places, and honestly all of them would be wonderful as settings for horror or fantasy novels which did happen in many cases, which is fascinating.
Each place doesn't take more than 5 pages, and it comes with a black-and-white picture of it, but I found myself googling each place for more pictures in colour.
It goes into decent depths about each place and its current state. Note that this book was released in 2016, so something might've slightly changed, but it's not like it was written a decade ago, so I'd say it's totally reliable. The writing style was easy and approachable, which is something I find myself liking and appreciating National Geographic publications for.

I thank Netgalley for the digital ARC.

[*Tau* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"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.


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

[Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Atlas of Improbable Places - A Journey to the World's Most Unusual Corners by Travis Elborough is a stunning hardcover book with maps from Alan Horsfield.

This collection of deserted islands, subterranean secrets and bizarre and strange locations around the world is broken down into categories, including: Deserted Destinations, Architectural Oddities, Floating Worlds, Otherworldly Spaces (my favourite) among others.

The lack of colour photographs often had me seeking more information online, however some of the highlights of the book for me included the following places:
- Slab City in California, USA (squatter metropolis)
- Battleship Island, Japan (deserted mining settlement)
- Oradour-sur-Glane, France (village abandoned since WWII)
- Wittenoom, Western Australia (asbestos town)
- The Kingdom of Redonda, Caribbean (uninhabited island)
- Poveglia Island, Italy (former plague quarantine island)
- Aokigahara, Japan (the demon forest)

With such a stunning cover and dust jacket (complete with gold foiling), not to mention the beautiful cartography end papers, I'm at a complete loss as to why the photos are black and white. Colour photographs would have enhanced this Atlas ten-fold and their absence is the only reason I'm giving a rating of 4 stars instead of 5 stars.

Atlas of Improbable Places is recommended for readers curious about the world around them and the strange impact humans have on their environment. Also recommended for those who enjoy travel, geography and history. Great coffee table book too.

* Copy courtesy of Murdoch Books *

[laladebombay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never known a travel book to have so much soul in it. This is one of those books that makes you very fond of the author - even when you don't as much know the color of his hair! The book started with an Italo Calvino reference that made me squeal because I am a thorough fan.

I think this is a really important book and I believe its slightly mystic quality is going to amuse and attract readers for generations to come.

[Gwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a beautifully crafted book: thick paper, elegant (if rather pointless--why the focus on "urban areas" without the context?) maps, sometimes stunning photography (although why the black and white? and why just 1 or 2 per location?) and a wonderful layout.

However, the content of the book was lacking. The places/events had very little context, and if you didn't already know something about the topic, the entries were confusing. The maps, while nicely done, didn't really place each location in context with the surroundings. The US/Canadian maps didn't have states/provinces labeled, so any location marker felt devoid of meaning. Each entry needed more photographs, preferably in color.

Mostly, I'd just stick to Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders for similar ideas.

Interesting locations to research:
- Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India
- Oradour-sur-Glane, Limousin, France
- Wittenoom, Western Australia
- Concrete City, Pennsylvania, USA
- Varosha, Famagusta, Cyprus
- Great Blasket, Blasket Islands, Ireland
- Holland Island, Maryland, USA
- Ross Island, Andaman Archipelago, India
- Hirta, St. Kilda, Scotland
- Underground Postal Railway, London, UK
- Moose Jaw tunnels, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Cincinnati subway, Ohio, USA

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars!

They don't have my edition on here, but this'll do. I've read lots of these kinds of books and they always throw up some worthwhile surprises and unknown and unheard of places - which is great, especially in this day and age where increasing panopticon technology can sometimes make you feel like you've seen or heard of most obscure places by now.

This runs through the whole spectrum of places, tiny islands in forgotten places, abandoned places in notorious locations, as well as havens for the alternatively minded - Free Christiania in central Copenhagen - yet more havens for the super-crass and wealthy - The Palm in Dubai. And you have the requisite former Soviet locations, including the delightfully alien sounding Zheleznogorsk in Siberia.

Some of the more intriguing ones included the remote Great Blasket Island off the west coast of Ireland, where they didn't even use money, relying on other forms of trade and barter. Then there's the horror show that is the leftovers of Wittenoom in Australia's WA, that infamous location which is saturated in blue asbestos, which we learn is potentially up to 100 times more harmful than white asbestos. This also dedicates a few pages to the French ruins of Oradour-Sur-Glane, which coincidentally I had just watched a documentary on only a couple of nights before. So there you go.

The overall layout of this format is decent enough, with the maps doing the job well enough, but as the other half pointed out, many of the photos have a lazy, tokenistic feel about them, as if they were sourced at short notice and not really the best view, which is a shame.

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars
I am a person that likes to travel every once is awhile. After reading this book it gave me a better view of the whole world. I did learn a lot just by reading this book. I was for sure I wasn't going to learn a thing while reading this book, but I actually did. I am really glad that I got a bigger point of view of the world. One thing that I did not like was how long it was. I know they want you get a view of the world, but I think it could be a little bit shorter than what it is. I probably would not read this book again just because it is a book that is good for only one time. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to travel.

[Rusha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hear you, some of these were improbable

[Christiaan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beetje te korte verhaaltjes soms maar wel handig als je net voor oud&nieuw nog een boek wil lezen voor je reading challenge

[Netts · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so. Really suffers from the cheapskate decision to print all photographs in black and white.

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 2 out of 5]

the writing is so dull and those images……….. how was this published

[Andrew Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book to pick up if you have 5-10 mins of time, one to dip in and out of. The book is largely an index of interesting places with enough detail to establish whether you want to look up a bit more information. Expected a little more depth but I guess this wasn’t the design of the author.

[Nils van de Vreugde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview of some interesting places on Earth. Some locations were definitely worth exploring more deeply. The maps were a bit too simple for my taste.

[Beth N · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poppy, whirlwind tour of some of the more bizarre and intriguing places on this planet. Fun and light, good if you're planning your next holiday, but I could wish for a little more substance.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I was looking for— a digest of remote islands and lost places, the wilder the better. (More for fiction purposes, sadly, than travel, at the moment.) If you’re looking for more in-depth research, look elsewhere, but as a starting point, it’s just the thing.

NB: It includes Teufelsberg, “Devil’s Mountain,” the abandoned spy station where my dad worked in 1970’s Berlin. And a few other spots were familiar because this book unintentionally makes a nice companion piece to The World Without Us.

[Shannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very easy book to read and enjoy. I’d like to have Google Earth open if I was to read this again. I’ve come across a few of these places in other works before, Coma for example I discovered in a ‘This American life podcast’ but there are so many others I’d never heard of. I’d start a travel plan or an extended read based on the cool places in this one book.

[Alex Scroxton · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is clearly a poor quality edition rushed into print for the Christmas market. It contains no maps worthy of the name, so is not actually an atlas in any meaningful sense of the word, contains little insight or new information and the accompanying photos look like they were scanned in the 1990s. The concept is strong, the execution is shoddy. I can't recommend this book.

[Schopflin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gets four stars although it's actually incredibly frustrating: the articles all stop just as they're getting interesting and the photos don't match up to the gorgeous maps and descriptions. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enthralled.

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Content was interesting but the photography was abysmal.

[Vanessa Cooper · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book title sounded intriguing........sadly the contents were not.
Forced myself to finish it.........

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has entries on about fifty odd and off the beaten path locations. These locales are grouped into six parts that explore: “utopias,” abandoned places, bizarre architecture, islands, otherworldly destinations, and subterranean attractions.

There’s a standard set of graphics for each entry that include: a map that shows where in the world the place is, a photograph at that place, and a closeup map of the site’s immediate environs. The text describes a little about the history of each place and any quirky facts of relevance (such as how a location came to be abandoned.) The text also helps to clarify definitional issues such as what kind of utopian vision was being sought-after for the various [arguably] failed utopias of the first section.

I enjoyed this book. I’ve only visited two of the sites in the atlas (Ross Island and Auroville,) and I’m always excited to learn about more strange and unconventional destinations. I felt the atlas did succeed by presenting so many places I’d not only not visited, but about which I’d not even heard. (There are locations like Puerto Princessa [under-island river in the Philippines], Aokigahara [Japan’s suicide forest,] and “the Palm” [Dubai’s artificial islands] that are well-known to geography buffs, and many of the lesser-known sites are quirky tourist traps (Ten Commandments Mountain in North Carolina,) but –still -- there are some fascinating but little-known locations in the book.) There is a disproportionate coverage of North American and European locations, presumably because that’s where the market for English language books disproportionately lies, and little coverage of African or South American locations.

If you’re into strange and remote travel locations, you may want to have a peek at this book.

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.)

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book via NetGalley.

An amusing jaunt through “improbable” places around the world. The author doesn’t claim to have visited these places, so it’s not like it’s a travel guide; the term atlas has been chosen deliberately.

The chapter headings give a suggestion of the sorts of places covered, although sometimes that’s a stretch.
Dream Creations - sometimes an individual’s dream, sometimes more a societal aspiration;
Deserted Destinations - deliberately, as in Wittenoom in WA, abandoned due to asbestos; or because people just… drifted away;
Architectural Oddities - did you know that the London Bridge built in 1831 today stands in Arizona?
Floating Worlds -like the Palms; mostly islands;
Otherworldly Space, which seems to be mostly about death;
And Subterranean Realms - I did not know there was an underground railway in London dedicated to mail delivery.

Overall it’s a fun read, best viewed as one to dip into I think rather than reading cover to cover in a single sitting. Don’t expect a lot of detail about most places; this is a taster, not a through investigation of most places.

[katie meddins (maresh) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a solid four stars for me-i really enjoyed it

my main criticism would be that apart from the odd few chapters, it was very much focused on NW Europe, the US and Russia and i just would've preferred a more diverse selection of places.

i think my favourite may have been the very last chapter on the subterranean rock formations in Palawan, Philippines. those were some sexy fucking rocks

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Short chapters on curious and strange places, many of which I'd never heard of - from a church that survived a volcanic eruption to artificial islands, abandoned mining towns, a hill of crosses and a secret Soviet city that didn't appear on public maps. A good book for a year with so little travel to new places.

[Tom McCluskey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was mid ngl. Excellent reference book, not to be read like a normal book though. Brilliant maps and excellent information about places you’ve likely never imagined.

Wouldn’t recommend to Lucy as she’s absolutely not a geographer so would find this book tedious :(.

[Remo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Como los Territorios improbables de Torrijos, pero en aburrido. Habla de sitios peculiares, abandonados, exóticos, especiales, y a la vez aburre a las ovejas. Lástima de estilo. No he podido disfrutarlo.