Why did I do this?

Back in January, Mental Floss listed the "most famous book set in each US state" (and DC, but not Puerto Rico etc). My patriotic European soul was stirred; there are only slightly more European countries than US states, and it must surely be possible, I thought, to find a moderately well-known book set in each ( Read more... )

Here's the full list. Note that in a couple of cases I have retrospectively added / changed the winner since my original post. Full analysis with links coming soon.

( long list )

See note on methodology

I'm glad to say that we are finishing this set of posts on a highbrow note. I have disqualified Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, not on the grounds of literary quality, but because as far as I remember much less than half of the book is actually set in the Vatican, with other parts of Rome getting a good deal of coverage ( Read more... )

See note on methodologyVery slim pickings here. The most popular work of fiction with much of a San Marino presence - and it's a lot less than half of the book, which is mainly set in Milan - an alternate history in which the USSR won the Cold War, and our plucky young heroes attempt subversion. Fifth in a series of typically doorstop novels, it is ( Read more... )

See note on methodologyI had expected that Monaco's best-known twentieth-century resident would win here, but in fact there is a clear lead for yet another crime novel, published in 2002 by a writer who was much better known in his native Italy as a comedian and actor; it seems to have been a successful if temporary shift of genre for him. It is ( Read more... )

See note on methodologyI know a bit more about Liechtenstein than I do about some of these small states, because when I got my first job in Brussels in 1999, Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein worked downstairs in the same building; he was then his brother's ambassador to Belgium (whose then king was his wife's uncle) and Luxembourg (ruled by his ( Read more... )

See note on methodology

Since I did the British-ruled non-sovereign territories of Europe a couple of days back, I felt it only appropriate to do the Danish, Finnish and Norwegian equivalents. (NB that Greenland is not in Europe, nor are Ceuta and Melilla, or French Guiana, etc etc.)

The Faroe IslandsThere's a very clear winner for the Faroes, a ( Read more... )

See note on methodologyWe are getting into the final stretch now, with the first of the micro-states of Europe, perched between Spain and France on the Pyrenees. Today's winner - far ahead by ownership on Goodreads, and a close second on LibraryThing - is a historical romance about a Scottish mercenary captivated by an Andorran princess - ( Read more... )

See note on methodology

Since I started this series with the component parts of the United Kingdom, I guess I should also note those books set in dependent British territories (and Francis specifically asked about the Isle of Man). A later post will cover the Faroe and Åland Islands.

JerseyA clear win for the first book of a Second World War ( Read more... )

See note on methodology

Some difficult judgements to be made here. A famous 1864 SF novel must be disqualified because only a short but memorable section is set on Iceland, the main action taking place in an underground setting completely implausible to today's geologists. It is of course:

( Read more... )