The dictionary of imaginary places

"From Atlantis to Xanadu, this Baedeker of make-believe takes readers on a tour of more than 1,200 realms invented by storytellers from Homer's day to our own." "Most every fanciful world from books and film is included: Shangri-La and El Dorado are here, as is Utopia, Tolkien's Middle-earth, and Carroll's Wonderland, as well as the Beatles' Pepperland, the Marx Brothers' Freedonia, and a strange little town called Stepford. The history and behavior of the inhabitants of these lands are described in detail and supplemented by more than 220 maps and illustrations that depict the lay of the land in a host of elsewheres." "Now brought up-to-date with dozens of new entries for such places as Jurassic Park, Salman Rushdie's Sea of Stories, and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, this volume is even more comprehensive and entertaining."--BOOK JACKET.