A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders Surprising Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps

IntroductionPART ONE: HISTORIESThe Unification of Upper and Lower EgyptThe Great Wall of China and the Border as UnifierWhy is Europe Not a Peninsula in Asia?The Roman Limes and the Power of the PeripheryThe Legacies of CharlemagneThe Borders of Great BritainOf Feudalism, Marquises, Margraves, and Marcher LordsThe Open Borders Policies of Genghis KhanSpain and Portugal Carve up the WorldHoly, Roman and an EmpireBritain, Ireland, and the Invention of Cartographic ColonialismThe Much Misunderstood Mason–Dixon LineThe Local Government Reforms of Emperor Napoleon IThe American Invasion of MexicoThe Schleswig-Holstein Business“. . . Where No White Man Ever Trod”The Sudan–Uganda Border Commission, 1913European Nationalism and the United States of Greater AustriaBritain and France Carve up the Middle EastThe Partition of Ulster, 1916–22The Partition of India, 1947The Iron Curtain and the Division of Berlin, 1945–90 PART TWO: LEGACIESKoenigsberg/Kaliningrad, Eastern Germany/Western RussiaThe Strange Case of Bir TawilThe Dangers of Gardening in the Korean DMZChina’s Nine-dash Line and Its DiscontentsThe Uncertain Borders Between Israel and PalestineThe Siamese Twin Towns of Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-NassauThe US–Canada border, and the Trouble with Straight LinesSome Places Which Aren’t SwitzerlandSome Notes on MicrostatesCity LimitsThe Curse of Suburbia and the Borders of DetroitWashington, DC and the Square Between the States Borders from a Land Down UnderSome Accidental InvasionsCosta Rica, Nicaragua and the “Google Maps War”The Mapmaker’s Dilemma PART THREE: EXTERNALITIESA Brief History of the Prime MeridianSome Notes on Time ZonesA Brief History of the International Date LineOf Maritime Boundaries and the Law of the SeaSome Notes on Landlocked CountriesHow the World Froze Territorial Claims in AntarcticaThe Other, Bigger, More Musical EuropeBoundaries in the AirThe Final FrontierConclusion: The End of the LineSourcesAcknowledgementsIndex