Only the highest star rating is needed for this, providing as it does an ideal book that I would have had no idea I needed. I've been guilty in the past of falling down wiki rabbit holes when it comes to micro-nation competitions, such as the Island Games, but this is the gazetteer for people interested in such locales in the first place. It's a reference book, and also ideal for a small browse in the smallest room. I loved it.

It's not concerned purely about the current state of affairs, either – even if it starts with the relatively mahoosive Andorra. No, the second entry is the "Free State of Bottleneck", a secluded swathe of the Rhineland between occupied regions immediately post-WWI, who had to take it upon themselves to be a community to get by, to the extent they apparently colluded en masse to hijack a coal train.

Each entry gets a page of data, with population and region stats, and the flag or other emblem, alongside a map with wonderful clarity. The second page is the essay you need to know all about these places, and trust me – a lot of these places are so small a page is both all we need, and probably about all we do know.

But while this is the smallest look at the smallest places, it can still bring on the rabbit holes – who knew of the flag of Cospaia, with its toothed fly, and the fact it's still buyable today? There are amazing bites of trivia here, such as the reason an Italian town and Napoleon meant a bridge got to be on the Swedish coat of arms that is still there now. Throughout it's fun to see just how many rulers turned up to these places once only, if that, and tragic to think of the times a whole three quarters of one's population were wiped out in one incident (well, there were only four of them to start with…). Little here beats Sentinel Island – and I'll leave you to find out why – but the book itself is veritably a small wonder. A person who has lots of friends to gift this to is a rich man indeed.