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Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made it | 
| Author: Michael J. Trinklein
Publisher: Quirk Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $12.85
as of 9/9/2010 04:23 CDT details
You Save: $12.10 (48%)
New (31) Used (9) from $12.85
Seller: Mr. Translator
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 54601
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 160
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 10.3 x 8.1 x 1
ISBN: 1594744106
Dewey Decimal Number: 911.73
EAN: 9781594744105
ASIN: 1594744106
Publication Date: March 3, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9781594744105 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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Product Description
Everyone knows the fifty winners but what about the hundreds of other statehood proposals that never worked out? Lost States is a tribute to such great unrealized states as West Florida, South California, Half-Breed Tracts, Rough and Ready, and others. History buffs will be entertained and enlightened by these bizarre-but-true stories:
Frontier legend Daniel Boone once proposed a state of Transylvania on the borders of Indiana and Illinois. (His plan was resurrected a few years later with the new name of Kentucky.)
Residents of bucolic South Jersey wanted to secede from their "filthy" north Jersey neighbors and form their own union.
The Gold Rush territory of Nataqua could have made a fine state but since no women were willing to live there, they had to settle for being part of California.
Accompanying the stories are beautiful full-color original maps detailing how these states' boundaries might have looked, along with images of real-life artifacts and ephemera. Lost States is a quirky reference book for history buffs, geography geeks, and anyone who enjoys lush, fascinating cartography.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
 Once lost, now found, and totally worthwhile June 1, 2010
Sacramento Book Review (Sacramento, CA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
America wasn't built in a day. While the map we've all grown up studying seems like it was destined from the beginning, that was hardly the case. Hundreds of propositions for states and additions to the country have been put forth over the last few centuries, and //Lost States// proudly presents the stories behind many suggestions that never quite made the cut.
Trinklein's book is essentially an alternate history atlas, full of maps either adapted or invented to illustrate the potential impact of the states that never were. I thoroughly enjoyed my glimpses at Yazoo, Nickajack, Absaroka, Forgottonia, Rough and Ready, Polypotamia and many others, serious suggestions and the pipedreams of ambitious crackpots alike.
//Lost States// also compiles a list of other countries that have been proposed as potential acquisitions for the United States, including Albania, Guyana, and oddly enough, England. Some of the ideas here are positively mindboggling. ("New Connecticut" is a personal favorite of mine.)
As if that weren't enough, the cover of the book folds out into a map featuring many of the unrealized territories! From front to back, //Lost States// is an absolute treat.
Reviewed by Glenn Dallas
Fantastic, Well-Researched Mix of History and Pop Culture April 7, 2010
Sally Mapquest (Illinois)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I originally bought this book for my map-loving friend but started reading it and couldn't put it down. I love Lost States and its fascinating mix of history and pop culture, it makes geography fun. It was a great discussion starter at the dinner table, our family was talking about some of the scarier and wackier states that might have been! The writing style was witty and made me laugh.
Fun, informative, and how whacky history can be March 27, 2010
ahstrmn (Tucson, AZ, USA)
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
A very good job on the people who attempted to shape this growing country. The who and why is laid out in a very clear and fun to read manner. Each set of pages is one story containing a map and explanation. Would recommend to anyone interested in the story of their state or in how much different things could be with just one decision.
I love this book May 2, 2010
GatsbyFan (Chicago, IL)
This book is the perfect blend of history, trivia, and snark. The maps are gorgeous. The writing is hilarious. It makes for a quick read with a map on one side of the page and the related story on the other side. One of my favorite things about the book is that the cover actually unfolds to another map. As a life-long resident of Illinois, I was surprised (and amused) to read about the lost state of Forgottonia, whose name sounds like it originated in a Marx Brothers movie.
This book will have a spot on my coffee table for quite some time.
The USA that could have been June 14, 2010
Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA)
As a college history major, and an avid reader of books about history, I thought that I knew at least a little bit about most things connected with our country. This excellent book surprised me with the tales of states that had been proposed, but for one reason or another never came to be.
I knew about Franklin, of course, but the others, such as Texlahoma and Transylvania (I bite you neck!)were revelations. Each article has an approximation of what the boundaries of the potential state might have been, and the book cover turns into a fairly good sized map if you turn it inside out.
People think that history is a dry recitation of facts, and often they're right. It's books like this, however, that show the lighter side of historical events, and cause us to laugh while we learn.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
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