A History Of The World In 47 Borders (the Sunday Times #1 Bestseller)

By (author) Jonn Elledge
Short description/annotation:
A fascinating and surprising history of the world told through the lines people have drawn on maps, described by Richard Osman as ''an absolutely incredible present for anyone who''s interested in the world at all, which is sort of all of us'' (The Rest Is Entertainment podcast)
Description:

A fascinating and surprising history of the world told through the lines people have drawn on maps, described by Richard Osman as ''an absolutely incredible present for anyone who''s interested in the world at all, which is sort of all of us'' (The Rest Is Entertainment podcast)

''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

''I love this book; I love Jonn Elledge; I love the way he looks at the world'' MARINA HYDE

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.

The Sunday Times No 1 Bestseller April 2025

More praise for 47 BORDERS:
''You''ll never look at a map the same way again'' STEPHEN BUSH
''[A] clever, confounding history'' PATRICK MAGUIRE
''A witty grand tour'' DORIAN LYNSKEY
''Warm, funny and sharply political'' PHIL TINLINE

Review quote:
A fascinating and often very funny history of one of our great current preoccupations: borders.
Review quote:
Totally fascinating and hugely entertaining. This book is a nerd''s paradise without borders - but with jokes. Jonn Elledge has such a gift for looking at complicated bits of the world, then telling you all about them in a way that feels not like a textbook, but like an incredibly fun and interesting conversation in the pub.
Review quote:
By turns surprising, funny, bleak, ridiculous, or all four of those at once, A History Of The World In 47 Bordersunknots some of the weird historical and geographical tangles we''ve managed to get ourselves into. And it''s timely too, if only because our preoccupation with drawing lines never seems to abate.
Review quote:
Somehow, Jonn Elledge turns geo-political history into a funny, fascinating and revealing insight not only into the world today but into the frailty and determination of the human spirit. Packed with "I never knew that" information (the sort that you read out to anyone in the room with you), A History Of The World In 47 Bordersshows us that history doesn''t repeat itself, but it plays out in weird ways right under our noses. He''s such a lovely writer. A delight from start to finish.
Review quote:
A brilliant account of how these lines on a map shape lives, destinies and economies. You''ll never look at a map in the same way again.
Review quote:
The last decade in global politics is a reminder that history never moves in a str