I really should have been reading other books that I started earlier, but this one was too much fun not to start. Several weeks ago, I watched the Aardman-animated The Pirates! movie and I came away a bit disappointed. I had liked the books in high school, so I looked them up at the library, only to find this book by the same author.

The subject matter was really interesting to me—I’ve been fascinated by the social construction of countries since before I knew the language to put it in those terms. I had heard of some of these “extinct countries” but not of others, but I enjoyed reading about all of them.

Like the “Pirates” books, though, what really made the book was the author’s tone. As informative as the book is, it’s the snark and flippancy that made things really fun to read.

• An Atlas of Extinct Countries
• Gideon Defoe
• The Pirates!
• Aardman