Tasmania is a fascinating and mysterious place so rich in history you can literally 'touch it'. With over 500 mountains' hundreds of valleys' thousands of lakes and rivers and a rugged indented coastline of about 1'000 kilometres it is no surprise many isolated communities evolved' living almost completely shut off from the outside world-even today' Vanishing Towns Tasmania's Ghost Towns and Settlements is about communities. Hundreds of communities for various reasons formed but no longer exist' others are a shadow of their former selves' and some only ever existed on paper. The result is the first comprehensive record of Tasmania's many ghost towns and settlements. Each town or settlement has been included and categorised following a rigorous examination of a broad range of evidence including etchings' photographs' general maps' proclamations' town maps' Nomenclature Board records and contemporary references' particularly newspapers.