This is 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 Tu-va 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.
The book present fifty of these countries that collapsed. The range of countries
reflect different aspects of world history during the 19th and 20th centuries,
with their ideologies, imperialism, struggle for resources, immigration waves
and major and trivial wars. As such, the stamps with their motifs and symbols
must be considered as official self-presentations. They were quite precise
expressions of the ruling authorities’ desired self-image, positions and
ambitions, whether revolutionary or colonial. Besides stamps, the book is based
on eyewitness accounts, as well as later historical analyses.
Each vanished country is presented with detailed maps and stamps.
