by Derek Nelson
Dateline: 09/27/99
Derek Nelson's book Off The Map: The Curious Histories of Place-Names provides a fascinating look at the history behind the choice and implementation of place names around the world.
Nelson probes the naming of counties, continents, and cities by not only locals but also foreigners. For instance, the Japanese call their island nation Nippon while it's known as Japan in English. Nelson's examination of some of the myths, rumors, and legends that developed into the place names of today will prove truly entertaining to any history, geography, trivia, or travel buff alike.
While most books that provide histories of place names are simply dictionaries of the place name and its meaning, Nelson's book is a great story, with chapters covering the variety of facets associated with toponym (place name) choice. Chapters with such names as "Us Versus Them Place Names Become Pejorative," "When Languages Collide," and "Why Some Names Seem to Miss the Target" draw the reader in with their historical and geographic anecdotes and insightful yarns.
Though Nelson, an author of several history books, provides a bounty of information - at exactly 200 pages his book seems as though it could've been bulked up a bit. Additionally, I was disappointed that Nelson (or his publisher) chose old maps from the Library of Congress, instead of having maps created specifically for the book. For example, he provides an old (and inaccurate) 1705 map of Korea, in Spanish, to make his point about Korea's contemporary campaign to change the name of the Sea of Japan to the East Sea.
Despite these minor flaws, Nelson's book is the best I've come across about toponyms in quite a while. His detailed discussions of such issues as the name change from Burma to Myanmar and the standardization of geographic names worldwide is excellent.
Nelson has done his research to make for a very fun, entertaining, and informative read.
Order Off the Map from Borders.com today.
Read my reviews of other geographical books and products.
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