"In this marvellous and intriguing book, Harry Campbell has created a whole
new discipline - one which we may perhaps call nostalgic geography"

Do you still find yourself referring to Zaire or Czechoslovakia, or wondering whether it should be Moldavia or Moldova, Burma or Myanmar? Dozens of countries, cities and counties have changed their identity over the years. Some of the names we remember from our schooldays or from news headlines just a few years ago are now gone. For example, whatever happened to Tanganyika? This new book by Harry Campbell is a fascinating trawl through the place names that history left behind: the stories about where they came from, what happened to them and what they were replaced by. The stories behind the place names include: Biafra, British Heligoland, Ceylon, Flintshire, Friendly Isles, Islands of Samson and the Ducks, Leningrad, Little Britain, Macedonia, Muscat, Pleasant Island, Stalingrad, Tanganyika, West Britain, Yugoslavia and Zaire. From the major political movements (the Leningrads and Stalingrads of the Socialist Soviet Republic) to enticing destinations (Pleasant Islands, the Friendly Isles), "Whatever Happened to Tanganyika?" reveals how the atlas of yesteryear became the maps of today.

Do you still find yourself referring to Zaire or Czechoslovakia, or wondering whether it should be Moldavia or Moldova, Burma or Myanmar? Dozens of countries, cities and counties have changed their identity over the years. Some of the names we remember from our schooldays or from news headlines just a few years ago are now gone. For example, whatever happened to Tanganyika? This new book by Harry Campbell is a fascinating trawl through the place names that history left behind: the stories about where they came from, what happened to them and what they were replaced by. The stories behind the place names include: Biafra, British Heligoland, Ceylon, Flintshire, Friendly Isles, Islands of Samson and the Ducks, Leningrad, Little Britain, Macedonia, Muscat, Pleasant Island, Stalingrad, Tanganyika, West Britain, Yugoslavia and Zaire. From the major political movements (the Leningrads and Stalingrads of the Socialist Soviet Republic) to enticing destinations (Pleasant Islands, the Friendly Isles), "Whatever Happened to Tanganyika?" reveals how the atlas of yesteryear became the maps of today.

Harry Campbell is a freelance lexicopgrapher, who used to work for Larousse and Harper Collins. He describes himself as an 'armchair traveller and avid collector of maps'.

2007-12-24 Absolutely delicious, a delight.

I had to limit myself to one chapter a night, and wanted more when I finished it. What a light touch Harry Campbell has, making gentle fun of the serious business of names and their significance. Wars have been launched over names and their ownership, elections have been lost, and identities discarded. Every page has his gentle, whimsical humour, rendering clear the intricacies of the past naming of places, never becoming heavy, always bringing a little smile. If you like place, if an atlas is your natural territory, this is the book for you.
Kenneth Thompson, Tour Leader, Royal Scottish Geographical Society.