Praised as the “bestest travel guide ever” (Mary Roach) and “a joy to read and reread” (Neil Gaiman), Atlas Obscura is a phenomenon of travel books: “Odds are you won’t get past three pages without being amazed” (San Francisco Chronicle). It rocketed to the top of bestseller lists and has over 626,000 copies in print since its publication in late 2016. Now the best gets better and the weirdest gets weirder with this completely revised and updated second edition that includes 120 new entries that offer readers even more of the most unusual, curious, bizarre, and mysterious places on earth. In addition, the second edition includes a full-color gatefold Atlas Obscura road trip map, with a dream itinerary.
Created by the founders of AtlasObscura.com, the vibrant travel community that’s grown substantially since the original edition—not only online but in stores, too, with the recent publication of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid—Atlas Obscura expands the reader’s sense of what’s possible. Oversized, beautifully packaged, compellingly written, scrupulously researched, and filled with photographs, illustrations, maps, charts, and more, it is the book that inspires equal parts wonder and wanderlust. It informs us on every page of something we never knew—and paints a rich panorama of what a marvelously strange world we live in. For the travel lover and curious reader, it’s a gift book that’s literally impossible to put down.
About the Authors
Joshua Foer is the cofounder and chairman of Atlas Obscura. He is also the author of Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, a bestseller published in 33 languages, and a forthcoming book about the world's last hunter-gatherers.
Ella Morton is a New Zealand-born, Australia-raised, Brooklyn-based writer, focusing on overlooked aspects of history and culture. After covering consumer technology at CNET she hosted Rocketboom NYC, a web show about New York’s quirkier people and places. Her most popular interview was a chat with Cookie Monster on the set of Sesame Street. Ella was associate editor at AtlasObscura.com, where she wrote about such topics as tobacco smoke enemas, Victorian streaming music services, and the etiquette of marrying a ghost.
Dylan Thuras is the cofounder and creative director of Atlas Obscura. He is also the coauthor of The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide for the World's Most Adventurous Kid.
Industry Reviews
“The Second Edition of Atlas Obscura is a hefty book but one that the world traveler in your life will love. There are hidden gems with over 100 more places added from the original. Travel through Budapest, Moscow, Tokyo, and more with the turn of the page and showcase all the curiosities this world holds.” — The Daily Beast
“Beholding hundreds of off-the-beaten-path gems, this book is a treasure chest of wanderlust where readers are transported to places they’re certain to have never encountered.” — Marie Claire
“The second edition of “Atlas Obscura” is a gift so enthralling that it may draw the recipient into a kind of extended trance. Crammed fore-to-aft with “the world’s hidden wonders,” this collaboration by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton features mesmerizing photos, maps, drawings, info and addresses. On one page there’s a Thai monk standing in saffron serenity in a village temple built of brown and green beer bottles; on another a bust of Vladimir Lenin, erected in 1958 by Soviet scientists who made it to Antarctica’s “Southern Pole of Inaccessibility.” If you can get there (the authors have advice about that), you may find, depending on the weather, only the top of the tyrant’s head poking from the snow.” — Wall Street Journal
"Satisfy your wanderlust and plan your next travel adventure with the help of this brilliantly illustrated guide." —Car and Driver Magazine
