Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall - Paperback

This book will enlighten anyone who wants to know about how great countries come to be. Entertaining and informative! I love reading this. wish more books like this are available for students / school kids so they can enjoy Geopolitics :)

Valuable book above the world we're living in with easily written.

Ever wondered whether the current status quo is connected with the geopolitical history of nations.Well, this books provides the basis on which you can objectively build your final judgement. I enjoyed the sense of humor the writer incorporated to make this purely political product entertaining and readable.

Absolutely neglected, ignorant and subjective expressions about countries surrounding Russia. It feels like the author was sponsored by the same propaganda machine to push the idea that there were no life on Ukrainian and Baltic Lands before the occupation of russian empire. The author absolutely didn’t spend any time to research on the actual history of these lands , or he would know that Rus has nothing in common with the current russia and Kyiv was a civilization when moscovia was just forest and swamps, before stealing Rus name after a deal of 1654. He would remember the biggest Tripillya culture that was already present on the banks on Dnipro river in Kyiv, and the deep roots of Baltic Vikings and Kazakhstan Steep tribes. He would know the repressions Soviet regime used to kill nations by starvation , Golodomor 1913-1914, 1932-1933, 1945-1949, he would know Ukraine is a separate nation and muscovia has nothing to do with Kyivan Rus at all!!! But to steal its name, history while destroying culture, language and people. He would know that people in the east were killied and tortured and eventually replaced, he would know that the only reason people spoke rusian is to survive in soviet occupation and not to be sent to Siberia to gulags. He would spoke more about annexation of Finland and Kaliningrad from the geographical point. Author knows nothing about Baltics as he knows little about Balkans, otherwise he would understand why border are what it is now. And don’t let me start on Syria, Lebanon and Palestine… I just saw a marketing campaign for russia imperialism, American capitalism and Juice Gio nism

id say that if you are ignorant on geopolitics and politics as a whole, this book may be a good starting point,

Ich hätte vorher nicht gedacht, dass die Zusammenhänge zwischen Geographie und Politik so interessant sein können. Tatsächlich war ich beim ersten Blick ins Buch etwas enttuscht, weil mich der Untertitel in die Irre geführt hatte: "Ten maps that tell you everything you need to know about global politics" - da hatte ich gedacht, dass den Leser spezielle Karten erwarten, die dann im Text näher erläutert werden. Die Karten zu den einzelnen Kapiteln sind aber ganz normale Ausschnitte, wie man sie aus jedem Atlas (oder einem Onlinedienst) nehmen könnte. Es sind die erhellenden Erläuterungen von Tim Marshall, die den Unterschied machen und viele Dinge klar werden lassen, die vorher unverständlich erschienen. Die zehn Kapitel behandeln einerseits Großmächte wie die USA, China und Russland, andererseits Problemzonen wie den Nahen Osten, Indien/Pakistan, Japan/Korea; auch Westeuropa und die Arktis sind vertreten, Afrika und Lateinamerika. Immer geht es darum, wie die Gegebenheiten der Naturräume Politik und Geschichte ganz wesentlich beeinflusst haben (und es noch tun). Wer sich schon immer gefragt hat, woher etwa die unermüdlichen Aggressionen eines Herrn Putin rühren, wird nach diesem Buch mehr wissen. Im Grunde ist es einfach: Völker, Nationen und Staatengebilde haben zwei Grundbedürfnisse, die sie erfüllen wollen: Sicherheit vor Angriffen von außen und gute Verkehrsverbindungen im Inneren, um Handel und Wirtschaft blühen zu lassen. Beides wird stärker durch die Geograhie beeinflusst, als wir uns das in unserer technikgläubigen Zeit vielleicht vorstellen. Das Zusammenspiel der politischen Grenzen mit Gebirgen und Ebenen, Flüssen und Meeren, führt in den realen Situationen der verschiedenen Länder zu den ganz verschiedenen Verwerfungen, die wir heute kennen. Das ganze Buch ist ein einziges großes Aha-Erlebnis. Eine besondere Aktualität gewinnt es noch dadurch, dass sich - auch darauf geht Marshall ein - Jahrzehntausende alte Gegebenheiten etwa im arktischen Meer derzeit durch den Klimawandel verändern, was auch die Spielregeln der globalen Geopolitik ändert. Ein hochgradig spannendes Buch für Leute, die verstehen möchten, wie unsere Welt funktioniert!

Very nice introduction to geopolitics but also useful for those who already have some knowledge about it. Very accessible and accurate (not biased in a political sense), I definitely recommend it even if it’s not the most recent and up to date book on the market. I LOVED the fact that there are maps included for each chapter (duh, it’s what the book is about), it’s always nice to have a clear picture of the areas being discussed, especially since the author delves into describing the geography of many, distant areas.

Review: Tim Marshall's Prisoners of Geography I was fortunate to be enrolled into the SocialBookCo reviewer program and was sent Tim Marshall’s Prisoners of Geography to review. Growing up I was always a devout reader. I loved books, loved collecting books, loved locking myself in my room and allowing my mind to enter new worlds, understand new concepts and live in the life of the characters of my book. Reading is what helped me get through most of my rocky childhood. I usually stuck to science fiction such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Divergent etc. Anything with action, adventure and a bit of suspense. When I received Prisoners of Geography I was super excited as I didn’t really know a thing about geopolitics. Tim Marshall did not disappoint. The book begins with a super power that every person on this planet has heard of before, a place where power and principles stand true today as they have in the past, Russia. My opinion of Russia and the culture and territory have changed in my 20s I must say the book has made me think extra hard of the plight Russia now faces. With its barren land, decline in population growth and restrictions from the other super powers of the world, the book made me feel a bit of concern and sincerity for Russia. By reading Prisoners of Geography, it sparked an interest to learn more and to research into what Tim Marshall describes as “six million square miles vast, eleven time zones vast; it is the largest country in the world”. Marshall begins each chapter by outlining the geographical barriers that influence the politics of the continent, the demographics and culture. He begins with the major bodies of water that help with foreign trade and go on to talk about deserts, mountains, plains, etc. Anything that affects the relationships of the country and its neighbors. He begins with Russia, which in my opinion was brilliant as Russia is so vast yet people such as myself from North America know very little. We know what history books have taught us and we know of the European countries as travel destinations but we don’t necessarily pay attention to the geopolitics of the countries and how it affects the country in which we live and their relationships. When we ask why it’s so hard to get visa’s, why oil prices fluctuate, why it’s cheaper to go to some places and not to others or why people are migrating it has to do in some sense with geopolitics and political ties that countries have made in the past. Marshall goes on to outline these very barriers and political outcomes for places such as China, United States of America, Western Europe and many others. The chapter that really peaked an interest, not that all of them didn't as each were enlightening in their own way but the chapter on Africa. Africa is a place in constant need yet sometimes we are not enlightened to why it has become the place we know today. Tim Marshall outlines the geographical barriers that Africa faces, the fight against diseases, the lack of medical information and supplies, the malnutrition and plight of about 75 million people and the ever existing internal wars that happen daily. Reading Prisoners of Geography has opened my eyes to each people's plights and fears and has provided me with an understanding of how much geography plays in the politics, cultures, immigration and safety of our planet. I did not expect much from Prisoners of Geography but I must say it has sparked a hunger for more information regarding geopolitics and has enticed me to research and learn more. That is what a great book does for its reader. It encompasses learning, the love for reading and affects the reader's’ feeling in some way. I appreciate SocialBookCo for sending me this book to review as I probably would have gone into a bookstore or seen this book on Amazon and not taken the chance on it. I am so glad I did through Social Books as now I am on a journey for more information, intrigued at the politics that will shape the world for our children and their children. I should’ve paid closer attention to geography class in high school, never knew it could be so interesting. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, you do not have to love geography or politics, but have the love for reading. This is definitely a great read and will spark an interest in history and political chess in which there is no definitive lines of the chessboard but instead mountains, bodies of water, deserts and forests. Loved this book.

libro muy interesante en caso de que te guste la geopolítica y como los distintos países interactúan entre sí