Prisoners of Geography

(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.

Tim Marshall paints with broad brush strokes the overwhelming influence of geography on nation building, trade, security and conflict in the international arena. Sometimes, he does overemphasize the geographical limitations and tends to underemphasize how geography works within feedback loops of culture and ethnicity- which results in a bleaker picture than is necessary of global conflict. However he should get credit for succinctly morphing a “intro to geopolitics 101” lecture into a handy book.

Interesting Concepts. Marshall presents an interesting case of geopolitics from a geographical perspective, and while quite a bit of it makes perfect sense, there are also times where he presents an idea as perfectly obvious... when it actually isn't/ wasn't. For example, he claims that once America gained access to the Pacific Ocean in the 19th century via the Oregon Territory, it was destined to become a great world power simply because it had direct access to both of the world's great oceans. If it was so perfectly obvious, why did it take another century or so - for this barely century old nation at the time - to achieve such supremacy? But the cases Marshall does make, he makes many interesting points on that even I had never considered, and I consider myself a fairly learned and analytical person. He also does so with great humor, which makes what could have been a much drier, more academic treatise into a much more enjoyable read. So read this thing. It has some good ideas and you'll be entertained. Just don't believe every word it says, and keep a critical eye on all things at all times. Recommended.

This was a fantastic start into reading more nonfiction. How will anything else compare?

Tim Marshall gives a solid overview of how various countries foreign policy, borders and difficulties were defined by their geography. While the scope of this book wasn't incredibly detailed, I learnt a lot and found myself with more areas of interest to read more about.

I would also like to highly recommend the audiobook for this one, I found it to be a great asset when trying to stare at maps and read at the same time.

There's something attractive about the claim that a nation's prosperity and geopolitical history can be explained by its geography. The characteristics of our coasts, rivers and mountains define how successful we are at trading and how eager we are to wage war with our neighbours. And why straight borders drawn in colonial past are meant to fail.

Illuminating how important and political shipping routes still are. Channels are are being built, the melting of arctic ice is welcome, and all to allow us to cut transportation routes short.

An excellent geopolitical history primer.

Interesting approach to global politics, however inconsistent at times and oversimplified at others.
Russia and Africa chapters were decent and consistent, the rest subpar, except for the Middle East, which was a total distaster.
All in all it's a nice concept for you to build your own thoughts on, not to be taken at face value (written for the sole intent of being a bestseller, and not to share valuable input)

I wasn't all that sure what I was getting into when I picked up this book, but despite that it's proven to be a rather interesting read, even if I'm very sure that geopolitics is not the end-all and be-all of understanding the world's current political climate. It's out-of-date by now, of course, since it was published in 2015 and the world has changed significantly between then and the Orange Oompa Loompa being elected President of the United States, but there's still quite a few interesting chunks of information scattered throughout that still hold true today. Most important, I think, is how arbitrary lines drawn on maps by white people in the 19th century have created the chaotic warzones of the 21st. A good thing to remember that, especially when looking at the political situation in the Middle East and Africa.

Okay, But Missed the Mark.

This book gives a fun take on how geography shapes history and politics with ten maps, but it feels a bit shallow. The ideas are interesting, and the author does a good job simplifying complex issues, but it lacks the depth I was hoping for. It's great for light reading and provides thought-provoking insights, but for anyone wanting a deeper analysis, it might leave you wanting more. Still, an enjoyable read overall.

Have to say Tim Marshall has done an excellent job of this book and providing a relatively simple baseline for geopolitics, and providing a plain English explanation for historical, and not so historical political decisions and the effects of geography related to these.

Marshall says in his introduction, which is a good paragraph summary:

The land on which we live has always shaped us. It has shaped the wars, the power, politics and social development of the people that now inhabit nearly every part of the earth... The choices of those who lead the seven billion inhabitants of this planet will to some degree always be shaped by the rivers, mountains, deserts, lakes and seas that constrain us all - as they always have.