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Distributed for Haus Publishing

Phantom Islands

In Search of Mythical Lands

Translated by Peter Lewis

Distributed for Haus Publishing

Phantom Islands

In Search of Mythical Lands

Translated by Peter Lewis
From the famed Atlantis to the remote Rupes Nigra, islands have long held our fascination: they are locales isolated from ordinary life, lurking in unexplored corners of the globe and thus full of undisclosed mysteries. At times, however, our fascination with islands has bled into reality, as real maps bear the coordinates of fictional lands and travelogues tell tall tales of their inhabitants, their natural wonders, or their treasures. In Phantom Islands, Dirk Liesemer tells the stories of thirty of these fantastical islands. Beginning with their supposed discovery, he recreates their fabled landscapes, the voyages that attempted to verify their existence, and, ultimately, the moment when their existence was finally disproven. Spanning oceans and centuries, these curious tales are a chronicle of human lust for discovery and wealth.

Beautifully illustrated with colored maps and charts, Phantom Islands shows the cunning of imposters and frauds, the earnestness of explorers searching for knowledge, and the pleasure that can be found in our willingness to deceive and to be deceived.

155 pages | 23 maps | 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 | © 2018

Geography: Geography--Reference

History: General History


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Reviews

"Phantom Islands will be a good read for curious, wandering minds. It may also be a nice text on a list of books for a course about island geography, cultural geography, or nautical history. Th e book is easily accessible to a wide variety of readers. Just as the fabled Charybdis pulled in countless ships to seal their fates, you will be drawn into these tales of exploration of faraway places. You will likely find yourself rushing to your preferred search engine to find out more about these fascinating edge points of human stories."

Journal of Historical Geography

"Dirk Liesemer’s Phantom Islands, now translated into English, explores thirty islands that turned out not to exist."

Map Room Blog

"An entertaining exploration of thirty islands that are no longer on the map. Liesemer recounts these tall tales with great clarity, and teases out the truth with charm and rigour."

Malachy Tallack, author of 'The Un-Discovered Islands: An Archipelago of Myths and Mysteries, Phantoms and Fakes'

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