Prisoners of Geography
Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World
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Prisoners of Geography
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Narrated by:
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Scott Brick
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By:
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Tim Marshall
About this listen
Maps have a mysterious hold over us. Whether ancient, crumbling parchments or generated by Google, maps tell us things we want to know, not only about our current location or where we are going but about the world in general. And yet, when it comes to geo-politics, much of what we are told is generated by analysts and other experts who have neglected to refer to a map of the place in question.
All leaders of nations are constrained by geography. In this audiobook, now updated to include 2016 geopolitical developments, journalist Tim Marshall examines Russia, China, the US, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Japan, 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.
Marshall explains the complex geo-political strategies that shape the globe. Why is Putin so obsessed with Crimea? Why was the US destined to become a global superpower? Why does China's power base continue to expand? Why is Tibet destined to lose its autonomy? Why will Europe never be united? The answers are geographical.
©2015 Tim Marshall (P)2016 Audiobooks.com PublishingCritic Reviews
What listeners say about Prisoners of Geography
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- matthewc01
- 01-09-2020
I don't give 5 stars freely
Brilliant book, which strikes a great balance between summary and detail, dissects why the world is the way it is. Thoroughly recommended
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- SydBJ
- 10-09-2023
Excellent but not with problems
Really fascinating stories about geography, history, people’s and wars of the world. Stories you don’t want to hit the stop button.
However, the author tried a bit too hard on its theme of “we’re all prisoners of geography, whatever we do, we can’t get out of certain destinies”, while ironically most stories he quoted especially those after the WWII are proving exactly the opposite point: the advancement of technology and influence of economic ideologies are wiping out the geographical prison doors everywhere on earth.
Europe was by no means destined to fight each other all the time to eternity, Russia and China are not anti-western dictatorships by default, and so many troubles in the Middle East stem from religion rather than arbitrary lines in the desert.
My conclusion at the end of the book is: it’s the ideas that are the primary forces in shaping human history and destiny, why geography only adds some interesting flavours to the journey.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shauna
- 03-04-2018
A surprisingly gripping history of the world
Wonderfully conveyed by writer and narrator. A refreshing lens through which to view global politics.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Graeme Sparshott
- 15-08-2021
A very important read
An essential read to understand the background to the issues that dominate today's headlines.
The only criticism I have is the lack of maps to download as a pdf (other books offer this). This would help to further explain the author's analysis and commentary and is a miss as they are available in the hard copy version.
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