A rather interesting, albeit cluttered, set of historical essays on states and nations which no longer exist, from the kingdoms of Spain to Alt Clud/Strathclyde in Scotland, to the USSR.

The memory of every thing is overwhelmed in time, says Marcus Aurelius, three centuries before his empire passed. Why did these old states crumble - wars, internal strife, warring ethnicites, imperial ambitions? Perhaps. Some states, like the Republic of Carpatho-Ruthenia, survived for but a day, swallowed by the ambitions of Germany and Hungary. Some endured for centuries - Lithuania was once the largest empire in Europe. Prussia was the catalyst behind modern Germany. Some endure despite everything - Estonia clung to its identity through centuries of Russian domination. Some leave behind traces in other nations - the German state of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha left behind the current British ruling family.

Of course decline is not always death, but possibly rebirth - Ataturk rebuilt Turkey from Ottoman ruins. Italy escaped monarchism and Fascism, and somehow endured Napoleon and Berlusconi alike.

It is easy to forget that states are not immutable and eternal entities. Internal ethnicities and other such conflicts still pervade the post-colonial statelets of Africa, or the Middle East's own blood feuds. Even the Chinese titan still struggles to mollify or suppress the Tibetans or the Uighurs.

Much to learn from this.