HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY
Landene som forsvant. 1840 – 1970
Published by Spartacus, 2016
A different kind of world history – told through stamps from countries that have been erased from the map
More than 1000 countries have issued their own stamps during the past 175 years since the first “Penny Black” was introduced in England in 1840. Most of them no longer exist. Some of their names will bring back associations, such as Biafra and “famine” and Bhopal and “environmental disaster”. Others, few of us will associate with anything, like Labuan, Tannu Tuva and Fiume. These lost countries have fascinating stories to tell , whether they were short-lived like Eastern Karelia, which lasted only a few weeks during the winter war of 1922, or more tenacious such as the Orange Free State, a Boer Republic which celebrated 50 years as an independent state in the late 1800s.