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All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to understand world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture. To understand Putin's actions, for example, it is essential to consider that, to be a world power, Russia must have a navy. And if its ports freeze for six months each year then it must have access to a warm water port - hence, the annexation of Crimea was the only option for Putin. To understand the Middle East, it is crucial to know that geography is the reason why countries have logically been shaped as they are - and this is why invented countries (e.g. Syria, Iraq, Libya) will not survive as nation states. Spread over ten chapters (covering Russia; China; the USA; Latin America; the Middle East; Africa; India and Pakistan; Europe; Japan and Korea; and Greenland and the Arctic), using maps, essays and occasionally the personal experiences of the widely traveled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential guide to one of the major determining factors in world history.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
Despite the title, this isn't really a book about maps at all, it's a thumbnail guide to the geopolitics of the mid-2010s written by an experienced foreign correspondent. His "ten maps" cover parts of the world where there are important military or economic conflicts, which seems to mean everywhere
Marshall has the journalistic gift of serving up all the relevant facts in a very compact and efficient form that can easily be read through in the taxi on your way to the meeting, as well as giving you two or three slightly more obscure items you could safely drop into a conversation to convey deeper levels of knowledge. Nothing very profound, but a useful primer if you don't read the foreign news very often.
With the hindsight of six years since the book was last updated, Marshall made some good but perhaps obvious calls — in particular his view that "Russia has not finished with Ukraine yet" (ch.1) and his prediction that Afghanistan would have to be handed back to the control of the Taliban sooner or later (ch.7) — but he also seems to have let himself be misled by Brexit rhetoric into predicting the imminent collapse of European unity, and he failed to reckon with the USA's four-year holiday from grown-up (geo)politics and the collapse of the Nicaraguan Grand Canal project.
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except the central Pacific, Antarctica and Australasia. An ideal book to put on your shelf if you were (for instance) a bumbling Old Etonian suddenly promoted to Foreign Secretary of a former global power and hadn't read anything more recent than Xenophon. Marshall has the journalistic gift of serving up all the relevant facts in a very compact and efficient form that can easily be read through in the taxi on your way to the meeting, as well as giving you two or three slightly more obscure items you could safely drop into a conversation to convey deeper levels of knowledge. Nothing very profound, but a useful primer if you don't read the foreign news very often.
With the hindsight of six years since the book was last updated, Marshall made some good but perhaps obvious calls — in particular his view that "Russia has not finished with Ukraine yet" (ch.1) and his prediction that Afghanistan would have to be handed back to the control of the Taliban sooner or later (ch.7) — but he also seems to have let himself be misled by Brexit rhetoric into predicting the imminent collapse of European unity, and he failed to reckon with the USA's four-year holiday from grown-up (geo)politics and the collapse of the Nicaraguan Grand Canal project.
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LibraryThing member nittnut
I was impressed how much information was packed into this deceptively short book. While it isn't highly technical, it is detailed enough to still be interesting no matter what level of knowledge the reader brings. Using ten maps (Russia, China, United States, Western Europe, Africa, The Middle
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East, India and Pakistan, Korea and Japan, Latin America, and The Arctic) Tim Marshall explains clearly and concisely the basics of how geography defines the limits of power and influences political strategy. This probably should be a required read for pretty much everyone. It's well written, accessible, and at our house, led to more research on side topics like The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Show Less
LibraryThing member ASKelmore
Best for: Anyone interested in a basic understanding of how the earth has influenced politics across the world.
In a nutshell: Author Tim Marshall breaks the world into ten regions and gives an overview of how different geographic and cultural components (rivers, deserts, mountains, harbors, tribes)
Worth quoting:
“The better your relationship with Russia, the less you pay for energy; for example, Finland get a better deal than the Baltic States.”
“China has locked itself into the global economy. If we don’t buy, they don’t make. And if they don’t make there will be mass unemployment.”
“Amazing rivers, but most of them are rubbish for actually transporting anything, given that every few miles you go over a waterfall.”
“The notion that a man from a certain area could not travel across a region to see a relative from the same tribe unless he had a document, granted to him by a third man he didn’t know in a faraway town, made little sense.”
Why I chose it: I don’t know near enough about the world and the motivation behind some actions, and this looked like a great 101-level introduction. And it is.
Review:
This book could have gone one of two ways in my mind: impossible to slog through or difficult to put down. I find that often with non-fiction surveys: in an attempt to fit loads of information into one small book, the density can lead to dry writing and a list of dates and names that rivals the Numbers book in the Bible.
Mr. Marshall does, in my opinion, a great job of parsing some of the most critical bits and connecting them to other critical bits. Obviously the 40 pages on the Middle East won’t be able to get into the nuance of everything, but it’s a starting point.
The Ten Maps include: Russia; China; USA; Western Europe; Africa; The Middle East; India and Pakistan; Korea and Japan; Latin America; and the Arctic. Obviously that doesn’t cover all of the world; Mr. Marshall points out right up front that it leaves out Australia, for example, and much of the south pacific. But it’s a start, and was eye-opening for me.
I think starting with Russia is a smart move, especially since (from my perspective as someone from the US) Russia has been a bit, shall we say, active in the business of other nations as of late. The edition I had included information as late as summer 2017, so its quite a current book. Each chapter looks at the geography of the region and uses it as a jumping off point to get at how that might influence the decisions each nation makes. It doesn’t make moral judgment; it just explains. So, for example, if your country relies on water from a river that flows through a neighboring nation, you’re going to be VERY interested in how things are going in that nation.
As I said, this is a survey, not a deep analysis of any one nation, but still, I feel much better informed about the world than I did a week ago.
In a nutshell: Author Tim Marshall breaks the world into ten regions and gives an overview of how different geographic and cultural components (rivers, deserts, mountains, harbors, tribes)
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have affected different political decisions.Worth quoting:
“The better your relationship with Russia, the less you pay for energy; for example, Finland get a better deal than the Baltic States.”
“China has locked itself into the global economy. If we don’t buy, they don’t make. And if they don’t make there will be mass unemployment.”
“Amazing rivers, but most of them are rubbish for actually transporting anything, given that every few miles you go over a waterfall.”
“The notion that a man from a certain area could not travel across a region to see a relative from the same tribe unless he had a document, granted to him by a third man he didn’t know in a faraway town, made little sense.”
Why I chose it: I don’t know near enough about the world and the motivation behind some actions, and this looked like a great 101-level introduction. And it is.
Review:
This book could have gone one of two ways in my mind: impossible to slog through or difficult to put down. I find that often with non-fiction surveys: in an attempt to fit loads of information into one small book, the density can lead to dry writing and a list of dates and names that rivals the Numbers book in the Bible.
Mr. Marshall does, in my opinion, a great job of parsing some of the most critical bits and connecting them to other critical bits. Obviously the 40 pages on the Middle East won’t be able to get into the nuance of everything, but it’s a starting point.
The Ten Maps include: Russia; China; USA; Western Europe; Africa; The Middle East; India and Pakistan; Korea and Japan; Latin America; and the Arctic. Obviously that doesn’t cover all of the world; Mr. Marshall points out right up front that it leaves out Australia, for example, and much of the south pacific. But it’s a start, and was eye-opening for me.
I think starting with Russia is a smart move, especially since (from my perspective as someone from the US) Russia has been a bit, shall we say, active in the business of other nations as of late. The edition I had included information as late as summer 2017, so its quite a current book. Each chapter looks at the geography of the region and uses it as a jumping off point to get at how that might influence the decisions each nation makes. It doesn’t make moral judgment; it just explains. So, for example, if your country relies on water from a river that flows through a neighboring nation, you’re going to be VERY interested in how things are going in that nation.
As I said, this is a survey, not a deep analysis of any one nation, but still, I feel much better informed about the world than I did a week ago.
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LibraryThing member BookConcierge
Subtitle: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World - or in U.K. editions: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics
I’ve always been relatively good at geography, and yet I wouldn’t say I’m particularly interested in or fascinated by the subject. Until
This was a selection for my F2F book club and I’ll admit I went into it with some reluctance. So, I was pleasantly surprised at how very readable and understandable Marshall’s work is. I quickly became engaged in the way he outlined the benefits and challenges of various geographical features. A lack of a warm water port, or a mountain range border, for example can make or break the fortunes of a nation. Not to mention the happy coincidence of finding a wealth of natural resources within your borders – oil, gold, diamonds, copper, rubber.
My husband is retired from a career in international business. The only continent he has not visited is Antarctica. After he left the corporate world he took consulting assignments, including working for U.S. AID. He still reads widely about world affairs, global economics, and geopolitics. So, much of this book was not news to me; I’ve been listening to my husband talk about these topics at the dinner table for years. But Marshall organizes and presents the information, along with some instating conclusions (or suggestions) in a way that really captured my attention. I recommended the book to my husband; after about ten pages he said, “Haven’t I been saying this to you for years?” Yes, Dear, you have; but NOW I understand it.
I’ve always been relatively good at geography, and yet I wouldn’t say I’m particularly interested in or fascinated by the subject. Until
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now.This was a selection for my F2F book club and I’ll admit I went into it with some reluctance. So, I was pleasantly surprised at how very readable and understandable Marshall’s work is. I quickly became engaged in the way he outlined the benefits and challenges of various geographical features. A lack of a warm water port, or a mountain range border, for example can make or break the fortunes of a nation. Not to mention the happy coincidence of finding a wealth of natural resources within your borders – oil, gold, diamonds, copper, rubber.
My husband is retired from a career in international business. The only continent he has not visited is Antarctica. After he left the corporate world he took consulting assignments, including working for U.S. AID. He still reads widely about world affairs, global economics, and geopolitics. So, much of this book was not news to me; I’ve been listening to my husband talk about these topics at the dinner table for years. But Marshall organizes and presents the information, along with some instating conclusions (or suggestions) in a way that really captured my attention. I recommended the book to my husband; after about ten pages he said, “Haven’t I been saying this to you for years?” Yes, Dear, you have; but NOW I understand it.
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LibraryThing member john.cooper
I love geography, and this book comes highly rated; but I found it turgid and immodest. I don't mean that the author isn't expert, but that he claims without convincing. He is sure that in the 21st century, world leaders make their most important foreign policies based on naval ports and overland
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supply lines, and that they will continue to do indefinitely--he may be right, but I'm skeptical that in the age of bombers that can travel halfway around the world without refueling, distances matter as much as they once did. If this was discussed, I'd be more inclined to trust the author's analysis, but instead he writes in the complacent tone of a teacher who knows that his students are insufficiently advanced to think for themselves. Show Less
LibraryThing member annbury
Nation's physical endowments matter, explaining a lot about how their economic and political development. That's the central argument in this book, continuing the argument put forth in "The Revenge of Geography", in "Guns, Germs and Steel (a more nuanced work), and, ultimately, in the work of Sir
This book is interesting, but it disappoints on a few fronts. First, the subtitle -- "Ten Maps That Explain Everything" -- made me very anxious to see the maps in question, but they are definitely underwhelming: low resolution black and white images that could have been a lot better. Second, I did not find that this book added much to other things I have read on the subject. Finally, the book seems to me to oversimplify -- yes, geography does constrain choices and focus interests, but there is a lot else going on human affairs.
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Howard Mackinder, an early 20th century Brit who developed key theories of geopolitics. It is a useful perspective, one that has been little adopted in the last 70 years, in part because of its (assumed or actual) links to the racial and eugenenic arguments that were also current in early 20th century thought. And it is certainly highly relevant to the current world situation: for example, to the Russian determination to keep Ukraine out of the western sphere of influence. Marshall examines this and some other current "problem areas" which geography seems to dictate will remain problem areas for a long time to come. This book is interesting, but it disappoints on a few fronts. First, the subtitle -- "Ten Maps That Explain Everything" -- made me very anxious to see the maps in question, but they are definitely underwhelming: low resolution black and white images that could have been a lot better. Second, I did not find that this book added much to other things I have read on the subject. Finally, the book seems to me to oversimplify -- yes, geography does constrain choices and focus interests, but there is a lot else going on human affairs.
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LibraryThing member atticusfinch1048
Prisoners of Geography – A Much needed lesson
As someone whose family has been victims of the Geography of where they lived and who they were in an often much forgotten episode of the Second World War. People forget that when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 their allies Russia invaded Poland on
Many Eastern European Governments did not speak out when Russia moved in to the Crimea region whereas Western Leaders could not help themselves but make comments. Why the difference? Partly geography and mainly history, Crimea had been Russian until 1964 when Khrushchev gave Crimea to Ukraine, oh and Khrushchev was a Ukrainian. What we have not heard is a lot about Russia’s interference in Eastern Ukraine which Eastern Europe is very concerned about.
Tim Marshall’s excellent book Prisoners of Geography which examines ten maps of the world and then given a concise geopolitical history of that region. You will find out why Russian is concerned about Europe’s eastern border countries, and why it sees Poland as the gateway to the Russian plains as well as the European plains, and feels pretty secure with its other borders.
There is also an excellent examination on why China has finally come from behind the bamboo curtain and playing an active part with investments across the Asiatic content. That they are not afraid to sabre rattle amongst the USA naval fleet when it sails too close to China.
We also get examinations of the Middle East, which is very apt, with some excellent analysis which some of our political leaders could do with and understanding before making crass statements on what is happening there. In the chapter that covers the Middle East the reader is reminded very much of the artificial borders that were drawn up by the Sykes-Picot Agreement in May 1916, a secret agreement that was concluded by two British and French diplomats. The Sykes-Picot Agreement involved itself with the partition of the Ottoman Empire once World War One had ended. The consequences of which are still reverberating throughout the Middle East and people wonder why the British are not trusted by countries such as Iran.
There are also excellent chapters that cover Africa, Korea and Japan, the United States as well as the southern Americas. One could go forensically through all the chapters and set them out here but the reader needs to engage this book.
What Tim Marshall gives the reader is an excellent lesson and reminders that geography influences political decisions, strategic decisions of governments and the attitudes of the people. This book also can open one’s eyes to the fact that geography gives context to political and historical events such as revolutions or various embargos that happen across the globe.
This is an excellent book which students of geography, history and politics should be required to read and those not so bright people that get elected to Parliaments need to read. This book puts a lot of recent and historical events in to context and understanding that context is so important. Buy this book, borrow this book and give this book it is too important to remain on the shelves getting dusty.
As someone whose family has been victims of the Geography of where they lived and who they were in an often much forgotten episode of the Second World War. People forget that when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 their allies Russia invaded Poland on
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the 17th September 1939. My great-Grandmother was ‘exiled’ to Siberia because her son was fighting for the enemy (the Polish Government) and her husband was an officer in the Polish Police. My Grandfather escaped a Nazi POW camp made his way to France and after its fall to the UK. My great-Grandfather was never heard of again, and members of my family perished at Katyn, when my great-Grandmother was released in 1946 from Siberia, she could not go home, as her home was in the Stalin creation of Western Ukraine and was ‘moved’ to Krakow.Many Eastern European Governments did not speak out when Russia moved in to the Crimea region whereas Western Leaders could not help themselves but make comments. Why the difference? Partly geography and mainly history, Crimea had been Russian until 1964 when Khrushchev gave Crimea to Ukraine, oh and Khrushchev was a Ukrainian. What we have not heard is a lot about Russia’s interference in Eastern Ukraine which Eastern Europe is very concerned about.
Tim Marshall’s excellent book Prisoners of Geography which examines ten maps of the world and then given a concise geopolitical history of that region. You will find out why Russian is concerned about Europe’s eastern border countries, and why it sees Poland as the gateway to the Russian plains as well as the European plains, and feels pretty secure with its other borders.
There is also an excellent examination on why China has finally come from behind the bamboo curtain and playing an active part with investments across the Asiatic content. That they are not afraid to sabre rattle amongst the USA naval fleet when it sails too close to China.
We also get examinations of the Middle East, which is very apt, with some excellent analysis which some of our political leaders could do with and understanding before making crass statements on what is happening there. In the chapter that covers the Middle East the reader is reminded very much of the artificial borders that were drawn up by the Sykes-Picot Agreement in May 1916, a secret agreement that was concluded by two British and French diplomats. The Sykes-Picot Agreement involved itself with the partition of the Ottoman Empire once World War One had ended. The consequences of which are still reverberating throughout the Middle East and people wonder why the British are not trusted by countries such as Iran.
There are also excellent chapters that cover Africa, Korea and Japan, the United States as well as the southern Americas. One could go forensically through all the chapters and set them out here but the reader needs to engage this book.
What Tim Marshall gives the reader is an excellent lesson and reminders that geography influences political decisions, strategic decisions of governments and the attitudes of the people. This book also can open one’s eyes to the fact that geography gives context to political and historical events such as revolutions or various embargos that happen across the globe.
This is an excellent book which students of geography, history and politics should be required to read and those not so bright people that get elected to Parliaments need to read. This book puts a lot of recent and historical events in to context and understanding that context is so important. Buy this book, borrow this book and give this book it is too important to remain on the shelves getting dusty.
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LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
'Prisoners of Geography' is a magnificent introduction to the realm of geopolitics, or the study of why different countries behave in the way that they do because of their geography and physical boundaries. I'd never really stopped to consider the why and wherefore of this aspect of the world
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before - it was always there, somewhere in the back of my mind, but learning about the troubled relationship of China and India, for example, and the need for China to keep Tibet under control as a buffer state, really made a lot of things fall into place. Show Less
LibraryThing member untraveller
A pretty much excellent book with good (not great!) maps to reference during reading. Many areas of the world are included (Australia/New Zealand, SE Asia, and the Pacific islands are not) with good information although if a person travels much, much of this is obvious. The area of the world I
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thought most useful for me personally was South America with a few gems I had not thought about previously, but was subconsciously aware of. So that may be the value in a book such as this....to think about the world from alternate points of view. Finished 17.04.2020 in Malta, during the plague. Show Less
LibraryThing member pgmcc
I would describe this as a documentary level overview of world politics with an attempt to explain how they are influenced by geography. It is fairly up to date with the latest updated edition published in 2019.
It is ambitious to explain geo-politics in one book, but it gives a reasonable
- the navigability of its river network
- availability of arable land
- abundance of natural resources in general
- abundance of energy resources in particular.
An entity will depend on its geography for defence. A key example given is Russia. The Russian heartland around Moscow is protected to the East with a moutain range and a vast expanse of sparcely populated land, while it is open to the West because of the North European plain which would be an open path for Western powers to advance on the heartland.
The access to energy resources is identified as an indicator of a nation's foreign policies. China has to import much of its energy and must strive to protect the sea routes used to provide it with fuel, seek to befriend nations that can provide it with energy, and seek more secure routes for its energy imports.
The USA's exploitation of shale oil is making the country energy self-sufficient which explains its loss of interest in the Middle East as it no longer needs oil from that region. As the oil-shales will be providing the USA with energy self-sufficiency it is easy to see why the current government is reducing or eliminating environmental regulations that hinder its exploitation.
All in all this is a good overview of geo-political activity as influenced by geography/geology.
It is ambitious to explain geo-politics in one book, but it gives a reasonable
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overview. A few of its key premises are that a region's development is influenced by:- the navigability of its river network
- availability of arable land
- abundance of natural resources in general
- abundance of energy resources in particular.
An entity will depend on its geography for defence. A key example given is Russia. The Russian heartland around Moscow is protected to the East with a moutain range and a vast expanse of sparcely populated land, while it is open to the West because of the North European plain which would be an open path for Western powers to advance on the heartland.
The access to energy resources is identified as an indicator of a nation's foreign policies. China has to import much of its energy and must strive to protect the sea routes used to provide it with fuel, seek to befriend nations that can provide it with energy, and seek more secure routes for its energy imports.
The USA's exploitation of shale oil is making the country energy self-sufficient which explains its loss of interest in the Middle East as it no longer needs oil from that region. As the oil-shales will be providing the USA with energy self-sufficiency it is easy to see why the current government is reducing or eliminating environmental regulations that hinder its exploitation.
All in all this is a good overview of geo-political activity as influenced by geography/geology.
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LibraryThing member sriram_shankar
A good bird's eye view/roundup of the major conflicts in every region and how geography is sometimes a cause and sometimes a limiting or even exacerbating factor in each of these conflicts.
A central theme seems to be the fact that humans in earlier times were more limited by geography than today
It would have been nice had the author also spent some time on how the internet and other conveniences of the modern age are removing some of these barriers. For if the internet is truly making the world smaller, then as a species humans must be becoming more homogenous, if not in appearance then definitely in habits and mannerisms and attitudes. How does geography figure then?
On the whole, I think this is a good fast read.
A central theme seems to be the fact that humans in earlier times were more limited by geography than today
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leading to formation of smaller, more homogenous groups with distinct characteristics bound by geographical features like mountains or rivers or oceans. The world is in conflict because colonialists liked to draw random lines in the sand or on a map with no basis in reality. It would have been nice had the author also spent some time on how the internet and other conveniences of the modern age are removing some of these barriers. For if the internet is truly making the world smaller, then as a species humans must be becoming more homogenous, if not in appearance then definitely in habits and mannerisms and attitudes. How does geography figure then?
On the whole, I think this is a good fast read.
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LibraryThing member waldhaus1
I read this book at the suggestion of a friend who thought I would find the perspective interesting, and indeed I did. The author has been engaged in observing geopolitics as a journalist for some time so he is knowledgeable. In addition his perspective as a Brit is refreshing to an American. He
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ends the book by acknowledging that great ideas and great ideas are part of the push and pull of history. That being said his point is geography is what the leaders and ideas need to work with when developing their strategies. As much as the book is about geography it is also about the history of power and its manifestation. I found the part about the arctic particularly interesting since it is so little in the news. The reopening of the northwest passage is clearly going to have a growing impact. He demonstrates one of the reasons international flashpoints are flashpoints. He also makes clear that one of the reasons both Africa and the Middle East are such challenging areas is that the colonial powers drew lines on maps without regard to underlying geography or populations. Show Less
LibraryThing member achedglin
A useful, brisk, engaging primer on geopolitics, especially if you (like me) are not a foreign policy expert.
LibraryThing member breic
Geopolitics for dummies? YA foreign affairs? I don't know who this is aimed at, but not anyone who reads a newspaper. Severely lacking in any depth, new information, or insight.
LibraryThing member expatscot
Better than his flag book. There were a few things it made me think about that I'd not previously, not necessarily things I'd not have been able to conclude, but sometimes one needs prompting.
LibraryThing member annbury
This book's title keeps its promises, showing how physical geography shapes and constrains geopolitics. The subtitle, however, does not: the maps are distinctly disappointing, and don't illustrate the (excellent) premises of the text nearly as well as they ought to do. This doesn't spoil the book,
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which is an excellent geographic/historical/current events review of key points of conflict in our world. I learned a lot from it, and it made some things very clear, like why Russia can't tolerate a NATO-leaning Ukraine. It would have been a five star book for me had the maps measured up to the rest of it. Show Less
LibraryThing member jonerthon
I thought this would be a fun one from a very well-traveled journalist, and it turned out to be like the upper-level college course I wasn't ready to keep up with. Marshall jumped straight into warring ethnic groups and receding coastlines with little prior context, setting up strong arguments for
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how geography is destiny in multiple places around the world. If you can keep up, it's pretty interesting stuff. Show Less
LibraryThing member konastories
Joy's review: This is an excellent overview of the impact of geography on nations, politics, and the world as we know it today. Light on scholarship, but solid on insight and explanation into events and situations that are shaping today's world. If you want a better understanding of current events
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around the world, this is a great place to start. Show Less
LibraryThing member dele2451
Well researched and clearly presented. This is a book that will make just about anyone smarter about the world we live in. Highly recommend.
LibraryThing member RobertP
A good journalists romp through the geopolitics of the modern world. Well written and entertaining, albeit somewhat flippant.
LibraryThing member clifforddham
Read Atlantic article based on book regarding Russia - interesting.
LibraryThing member Archivist13
I was surprised at how hard it was for me to put this book down. Tim Marshall delivers a concise overview of world politics, and how geography influenced major world events, as well as the success or failure of nation states. Easy to read and fast paced. An excellent introduction to geopolitical
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history of the world, from ancient times until the present. Show Less
LibraryThing member BenKline
Another excellent political/atlas/history/geopolitical/geography piece of work by Tim Marshall. Another part of his three part series (Flags Worth Dying For {currently reading now} and Divided by Walls).
He writes with a wonderful style that is both easy to read and illuminating and brings a depth
This is a topic that is both obvious and not obvious. As we all can kind of intuitively understand just how geography defines an area, but at the same time, we don't get a full grasp of just how severe that is. And this is true in both interesting ways for large nation-states like Russia and the US as well as smaller regions like the Middle East, Japan/Korea, even the India-Pakistan borderlines.
This is both a book on the history of the world and the people and populations of areas. A history of countries rise (and possible falls), as well as as this is a book about the current politics of many regions, both strong and weak, both big and small.
And maybe most importantly, its a book about the possible future of regions and nation-states.
He writes with a wonderful style that is both easy to read and illuminating and brings a depth
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to the topic, regardless of what country or region he is writing about. Visiting upon its history, its present, and its future, and makes it both exciting and educational.This is a topic that is both obvious and not obvious. As we all can kind of intuitively understand just how geography defines an area, but at the same time, we don't get a full grasp of just how severe that is. And this is true in both interesting ways for large nation-states like Russia and the US as well as smaller regions like the Middle East, Japan/Korea, even the India-Pakistan borderlines.
This is both a book on the history of the world and the people and populations of areas. A history of countries rise (and possible falls), as well as as this is a book about the current politics of many regions, both strong and weak, both big and small.
And maybe most importantly, its a book about the possible future of regions and nation-states.
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LibraryThing member hemlokgang
Horrible as an audio book. Why did they even make an audio version? You need the maps!
LibraryThing member ritaer
Author asserts that geography explains much of world history as resources, topography and climate shape cultures and their responses to one another.
Awards
The British Book Industry Awards (Shortlist — 2020)
Waterstones Book of the Year (Shortlist — 2019)