Whatever Happened to Tanganyika?: The Place Names That History Left Behind

Do you still find yourself referring to Zaire or Czechoslovakia, or wondering whether it should be Moldavia or Moldova, Burma or Myanmar? Dozens of countries, cities, and counties have changed their identity over the years. Some of the names we remember from our schooldays or from news headlines just a few years ago are now gone. For example, what did happen to Tanganyika? The fascinating stories behind the place names include Affpiddle, Biafra, British Heligoland, Ceylon, Flintshire, Friendly Isles, Islands of Samson and the Ducks, Leningrad, Little Britain, Macedonia, Muscat, Pleasant Island, Stalingrad, Tanganyika, West Britain, Yugoslavia, and Zaire. From the major political movements (the Leningrads and Stalingrads of the Socialist Soviet Republic) to enticing destinations (Pleasant Islands, the Friendly Isles), "Whatever Happened to Tanganyika?" reveals how the atlas of yesteryear became the maps of today.