Synopses & Reviews
In the bestselling tradition of
Why Nations Fail and
The Revenge of Geography, an award-winning journalist uses ten maps of crucial regions to explain the geo-political strategies of the world powers.
All leaders of nations are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas, and concrete. To understand world events, news organizations and other authorities often focus on people, ideas, and political movements, but without geography, we never have the full picture. Now, in the relevant and timely Prisoners of Geography, seasoned journalist Tim Marshall examines Russia, China, the USA, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Japan and Korea, and Greenland and the Arctic—their weather, seas, mountains, rivers, deserts, and borders—to provide a context often missing from our political reportage: how the physical characteristics of these countries affect their strengths and vulnerabilities and the decisions made by their leaders.
In ten, up-to-date maps of each region, Marshall explains in clear and engaging prose the complex geo-political strategies of these key parts of the globe. What does it mean that Russia must have a navy, but also has frozen ports six months a year? How does this affect Putins treatment of the Ukraine? How is Chinas future constrained by its geography? Why will Europe never be united? Why will America never be invaded? Shining a light on the unavoidable physical realities that shape all of our aspirations and endeavors, Prisoners of Geography is the critical guide to one of the major (and most often overlooked) determining factors in world history.
About the Author
Tim Marshall is a former foreign correspondent for Britain’s Sky News television. He is a leading authority on foreign affairs and has reported from thirty countries, including the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. More recently he covered what he considers to be the misnamed “Arab Spring,” reporting from Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria. After twenty-five years of front line reporting, he now edits the website TheWhatAndTheWhy.com and lives in London.