The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: Expanded Edition

From the island of Hermaphrodite, where May is celebrated every month, to the kingdom of Aleophane, where criminals are offered a choice of entering the church or becoming journalists, to the quaint town of Stepford, whose housewives behave very much like robots (which, in fact they are): this is a guide to more than 1,200 cities, islands, countries, and continents invented by writers and storytellers from Homer's day to our own.

Shangri-La and Atlantis are here, as are More's Utopia, Swift's Brobdingnag, Tolkien's Middle-earth, and the Beatles' Pepperland--their geography, history, and very unusual inhabitants described in fascinating detail. Here are worlds created to satisfy every desire for escape or perfection: dream kingdoms and vampire cities; intellectual curiosities and hilarious absurdities; architectural, musical, and feminist utopias; cities of impeccable virtue, and unmitigated vice; cities that hang in the air or change at a glance. 

With over 200 original illustrations and maps, this remarkable book catalogs the imaginary worlds of a vast range of writers (and others).