Cliquer sur une vignette pour aller sur Google Books.
Chargement... Prisoners of geography : ten maps that tell you everything you need to know about global politics (original 2015; édition 2019)par Tim Marshall
Information sur l'oeuvrePrisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics par Tim Marshall (2015)
Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. This book should be a must read for all global citizens. Learning about geography is important ... but learning about the historical, political, and economic impact (and decisions) that geography had on nations is entertaining AND informative. Each chapter focuses on a different part of the world to keep your attention and the information relevant. The author is very scientific in his writing which should make this readable by all. (2.5, rounded up to 3) This was supposed to be a primer on maps and geography first, and how it relates to history later. What should have been a compelling read is reduced to short paragraphs of text which look like they have been lifted straight from Wikipedia, which is not a compliment. Two glaring flaws jump at you once you finish this book. The first being that Marshall's treatment is superficial at best and unconvincing at worst - I sometimes felt that even the author wasn't convinced that rivers and mountains have influenced history to the extent that he describes. Secondly, Marshall is an unabashed neoliberal - his beliefs are that Latin America is in dire straits because they had socialism, colonialism happened and we should all get over it, and trust for American hegemony is very much implicit within the text. All in all, the book is a decent introductory read if you are a novice on geopolitics, but if one is already aware of what is going on in the world and wanted to know the ground reality, as I did, then this book is not a good starting point. There are some good things to be said about the book but the consistently glossing over details and the pretending that Australia doesn't exist does it no favours. The final chapter, where Marshall states that humanity is so divided that we cannot contemplate travelling the universe as representatives of mankind but will still think of ourselves as Indians, Americans, Russians or Chinese – is a sobering one. This is the only place where he made me believe in the prisoners of geography argument – and better late than never, I suppose. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Appartient à la sérieEst en version abrégée dansPrix et récompensesListes notables
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. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)320.12Social sciences Political Science Political Science The State Nation and territoryClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
Est-ce vous ?Devenez un(e) auteur LibraryThing. |
However, a lot of the author's observations and even predictions held up reasonably well.
The maps could have been better IMO, but that's true of every geography book I read. ( )