“Abandoned Towns” by Chris McNab

Abandoned Towns by Chris McNab

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


It’s hard to resist a book titled Abandoned Towns. The introduction explains the appeal very well: “Abandoned towns have an undeniably haunted aura, the sense that the hollow rooms, wind-swinging doors and silent roads still bear the imprint of those who once lived there, sometimes with unnerving immediacy.” I’ve had fun with similar books on abandoned train stations and abandoned buildings in Scotland, so this seemed like another fun variation on the theme of interesting abandoned ruins.

It does what it says on the tin — pages and pages of photographs of abandoned towns and settlements on all the continents, dating from different times – from Pompeii to Gold Rush towns and boom towns to Chernobyl to new mostly empty developments in China and Spain. These settlements fell victim to many causes – natural and human-made disasters, wars, changing economy and industry, resource depletion, and weather events. Some are well-preserved, others are crumbling ruins; some are beautiful and ancient, and others are sad remnants of mass-produced ugly architecture, many being slowly reclaimed by nature.

It’s structured by continent, and predictably (for me) the few pages about Antarctica (!!) and one on Chernobyl (Pripyat) sparked more interest since those topics always fascinate me.

I do wish the author had focused on fewer places in more detail as many of these photos were barely a glance of an overview, and seeing more parts closer and more explored could have helped to actually feel that haunted abandoned mood that the book was not always very effective at conveying. And some photos are dated and don’t quite convey the present-day reality (apparently it’s been published before, as Ghost Towns in 2018). And maybe I’m an outlier, but even in a photo book I’d appreciate just a bit more context and information instead of the very brief captions provided. But still it was pretty good, even if it left something to be desired.

3 stars.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Amber Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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