Atlas of Lost Cities: A Travel Guide to Abandoned and Forsaken Destinations

Atlas of Lost Cities: A Travel Guide to Abandoned and Forsaken Destinations by Aude de Tocqueville (2014, 144 pages)

I love the idea of this book: traveling around the world, exploring the abandoned cities on every continent. For each city, ranging in geography and time period, they provide a brief summary of its history and demise.
Unfortunately it failed to live up to its potential. Clearly Euro-centric with what could be racist undertones (putting "modern" in quotation marks when describing a "'modern' village" in India, which under every definition of the word was modern except for the fact it's not white or European; describing a city as "dating from India's pre-historic era" despite not actually being pre-historic, just precolonial), and straight up incorrect information in parts (maps were wrong, incorrect word translations, etc). There were no photos, only graphics. Which can fit a cohesive theme, but they would describe beautiful scenery and buildings that left me wanting more.
For a book described as a travel guide, it doesn't actually provide any travel guidance. Very little (if any) information on how to get to it or accessibility, if guides are necessary or recommended, or even just a rating on how desirable a destination it is.
I think for those interested in abandoned cities, this could be a good starting point but in my opinion, get your research from a different source. 

 

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