Jonn Elledge

Una mirada ingeniosa y sorprendente sobre cómo los mapas han moldeado nuestra realidad.La gente ha estado trazando líneas en los mapas desde que existen mapas sobre los cuales dibujar. A veces basadas en la geografia fisica, otras veces completamente arbitrarias, estas lineas podrian haber sido muy distintas si una guerra, un tratado o las decisiones de un puñado de europeos agotados hubieran tomado otro rumbo. Al contar las historias de estas fronteras podemos aprender mucho sobre como se forman las identidades politicas, por que el mundo tiene el aspecto que tiene, y sobre la magnitud de la necedad humana. Desde los intentos romanos de definir los limites de la civilizacion, hasta el acuerdo secreto entre britanicos y franceses para repartirse el Imperio Otomano durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, pasando por la razon por la cual Bolivia, a pesar de no tener salida al mar, mantiene una armada, este es un recorrido fascinante, ingenioso y sorprendente por la historia del mundo contada a traves de sus fronteras.

Uproarious . . . [Phillips and Elledge] pair the abundant good humour of this book with a warning about the corrosive effects of conspiracy theoriesThe TimesFrom the Satanic Panic to the anti-vaxx movement, the moon landing to Pizzagate, its always been human nature to believe were being lied to by the powers that be (and sometimes, to be fair, we absolutely are).But while it can be fun to indulge in a bit of Deep State banter on the group chat, recent times have shown us that some of these theories have taken on a life of their own - and in our dogged quest for the truth, it appears we might actually be doing it some damage.In Conspiracy, Tom Phillips and Jonn Elledge take us on a fascinating, insightful and often hilarious journey through conspiracy theories old and new, to try and answer a vital question for our times: how can we learn to log off the QAnon message boards, and start trusting hard evidence again?Praise for the Brief History series:Witty, entertaining and slightly distressing... You should probably read it Sarah Knight, author of The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ckBrilliant. Utterly, utterly brilliant Jeremy ClarksonVery funny Mark WatsonBoth readable and entertainingTelegraph

I love Jonn Elledges brain, and his tireless quests to boggle everyone elses MARINA HYDEThe Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything is a treasure trove of random knowledge. Covering everything from the furthest known galaxies to the murky origins of oyster ice cream, inside you will find a discussion of how one might determine the most average-sized country in the world; details of humanitys most ridiculous wars; and, at last, the answer to who would win in a fight between Harry Potter and Spider-Man.Bizarre, brilliant and filled with the unexpected, The Compendium covers the breadth and depth of human experience, weaving its way through words and numbers, science and the arts, the spiritual and the secular. Its a feast of facts for a hungry mind.Includes entries on the cosmos, the human planet, questions of measurement, history/politics, the natural world, leisure and many oddities that dont fit elsewhere...

FascinatingTOM HOLLAND A delight from start to finishMIRANDA SAWYERA novel and fascinating perspective on world history BILL BRYSONBy turns surprising, funny, bleak, ridiculous, or all four of those at onceGIDEON DEFOEI love this book; I love Jonn Elledge; I love the way he looks at the worldMARINA HYDEPeople 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 2025More praise for 47 BORDERS: Fascinating and hugely entertainingMARINA HYDE Youll never look at a map the same way again STEPHEN BUSH [A] clever, confounding historyPATRICK MAGUIREA witty grand tour DORIAN LYNSKEY Warm, funny and sharply politicalPHIL TINLINE

Una mirada ingeniosa y sorprendente sobre cómo los mapas han moldeado nuestra realidad.La gente ha estado trazando líneas en los mapas desde que existen mapas sobre los cuales dibujar. A veces basadas en la geografia fisica, otras veces completamente arbitrarias, estas lineas podrian haber sido muy distintas si una guerra, un tratado o las decisiones de un puñado de europeos agotados hubieran tomado otro rumbo. Al contar las historias de estas fronteras podemos aprender mucho sobre como se forman las identidades politicas, por que el mundo tiene el aspecto que tiene, y sobre la magnitud de la necedad humana.Desde los intentos romanos de definir los limites de la civilizacion, hasta el acuerdo secreto entre britanicos y franceses para repartirse el Imperio Otomano durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, pasando por la razon por la cual Bolivia, a pesar de no tener salida al mar, mantiene una armada, este es un recorrido fascinante, ingenioso y sorprendente por la historia del mundo contada a traves de sus fronteras.

A fascinating and surprising history of the world told through the lines people have drawn on maps by the charming and outstandingly nerdish author of The Compendium of Not Quite Everything

A fascinating and surprising history of the world told through the lines people have drawn on maps by the charming and outstandingly nerdish author of The Compendium of Not Quite Everything