History is usually presented to us as a finished story.

Dates are placed on a timeline.

Kings receive names.

Wars receive causes.

Cities receive founders.

Buildings receive architects.

Civilizations rise, decline, and disappear.

Then the next chapter begins.

But what happens when we stop reading history as a finished story and begin examining the physical world around us?

What happens when an old map uses a name that no longer exists?

What happens when a magnificent building appears to have another floor beneath the modern street?

What happens when photographs show structures that look strangely different from the cities we know today?

What happens when an enormous building has entrances that seem to disappear underground?

And what happens when thousands of people independently begin asking the same question?

Was something lost?

The subject of this book is Tartaria.

But the deeper subject is not simply Tartaria.

The deeper subject is historical memory.

How much of the past survives?

How much is destroyed?

How much is renamed?

How much is misunderstood?

And how much can disappear simply because later generations stop asking questions?

The word “Tartary” is unquestionably found on historical maps. It was used by European cartographers for large portions of Asia, and different maps divided the territory into categories such as Great Tartary, Chinese Tartary, Independent Tartary, Western Tartary, Eastern Tartary, and Muscovite Tartary