This is a different version of world history; it is a narrative -through stamps- of the history of states that have disappeared from the map.
More than 1,000 countries issued their own stamps in the last 175 years, following the release of the ‘Penny Black’ in England in 1840. Most of these countries no longer exist today. The names of some of these countries reflect connections, such as Biafra with hunger and Bhopal with environmental disaster. Others, however, barely ring a bell, like Labuan, Tannu Tuva, and Fiume.
All these countries have fascinating stories to tell, even if their existence was short-lived, like Eastern Karelia, which survived only for a few weeks in the winter of 1922; others were more persistent, such as the Orange Free State, a Boer republic that celebrated its 50 years as an independent state in the late 1800s.
This book presents the history of 50 countries that have collapsed. The range of these countries reflects different aspects of world history in the 19th and 20th centuries, with their ideologies, imperialism, the struggle for resources, waves of refugees, great and minor wars.
In this context, the stamps with their patterns and symbols should be seen as official self-presentations. They are essentially expressions of the desired image that the respective powers wished to present, of their positions and ambitions, whether revolutionary or colonial. Beyond the stamps, the book relies on eyewitness accounts as well as subsequent historical analyses.
