Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics

I bought this book for further my knowledge of geography and politics for my A-level studies and found myself not being able to put it down. Tim Marshall explains the basics of international relations and its relation to geography in an easy to read manner. Marshall explains various countries' problems with geography. He starts with Russia and explains why Putin chose to annex Crimea by explaining Russia's geography and history; he talks about the rise of the BRICS and the next superpowers, and how developing countries are gaining a foothold on the world stage. The book is split into chapters each talking about an area of the world and is interspersed with maps, although the book's subtitle is a bit misleading as the maps are more complimentary than instrumental in the book's explanation of geopolitics. For an introduction to geopolitics, this is a great book. If you are studying Politics and/or Geography at A-level, or simply want an introduction to these concepts, this book is a great starting point. It provides many examples and case studies for A-level that come in very useful. It is a bit short, although for some that may be a virtue if you are looking for a light read.

Delivered as expected.

This is the first book I have read regarding the subject of Geopolitics, it has been incredibly interesting, presented in a detailed yet easy to understand & I think about many issues around the world differently now. The reason I bought it is because of my love of maps, but this book only has simple maps, with some extra information on them regarding the written content of the chapter they belong to. I was a little disappointed about this, however the written content of this book definatly made it a good buy! I would highly recommend this book.

Took me about 2 weeks to finish!! It is a pretty heavy book of your not into history or geography like myself but nonetheless I'd still highly recommend reading this to gain a basic understanding of what has last us to our current geopolitical climate

Brilliant essay by Tim Marshall. After reading this book, you'll be really convinced that we're "prisoners of geography". The illustration of the effect that geography has in determining geopolitics is striking and compelling. Understanding the geopolitics of Russia, China, Europe, North America, Middle East, India and East Asia becomes much easier if these regions are observed through the lenses of geographical constraints (or lack thereof) as well as history. The only defect of this book is that you just can't have enough. Huge regions like Africa or South America just get a single chapter each, and there's no Oceania/Australasia or South East Asia.

It is true that I have been impressed by the author's on-screen work he did for Sky News for some years. Why? Because he would always try to place any situation or event into a wider context. This is unusual in news reporting as time and other factors play a big part. But Tim Marshall seemed to have the ability and forethought to show why an event had likely occurred and its possible ramifications to other groups or parts of the world. In this book he has no time limitations and has been able to give an overall "state of the world" by highlighting how geography and history have given us the political and in many cases, the dangerous world we live in today. I enjoyed it very much; it is written clearly and simply which is no mean feat given the complexities of our geopolitical world today. I highly recommend it and look forward to other books which might go into subjects in much greater detail. John Pullen www.johnpullenwriter.com

Interesting History and well written

This book brings home how hampered some countries are by their mountains and rivers, access to the sea and other factors. I don't agree with all the conclusions, though, eg, does geography justify Russia seizing Ukraine because of its paranoia about invasion by land? Of course not. Still, a thought provoking read.

I would like better quality paper. There is so much that I can learn about geography and its impact on countries.

El contenido del libro es realmente interesante. Ambas versiones (pasta dura y suave) están impresas en papel reciclado.

Tra i migliori libri mai letti in ambito geopolitico

L'auteur décrit les problèmes en peu de temps

Lo compré en primer lugar en formato electrónico, y me gustó tanto que decidí adquirirlo en papel. Cualquier interesado en conocer lo que pasa en el mundo disfrutará con este libro y lo encontrará útil. No es denso, pero al mismo tiempo tiene muchísima información útil. No tiene tampoco una opinión demasiado sesgada como suelen tener otros autores. Me encantó. Un único pero, la sección sobre América Latina es un poco pobre y tiene algunas imprecisiones.