Prisoners of Geography

Marshall is excellent on some of the highways and byways of geopolitics. --Financial Times This is not a book about environmental determinism - the geography of aregion is never presented as fatalistic; but it does send a timely reminderthat despite technological advances, geography is always there, often forcingthe hand of world leaders. --Geographical Magazine Lively and perceptive political and historical analyses are frequent. The chapter on China is excellent; the chapter on Africa combines geography and history in a convincing way; the chapter on Western Europe...is a brilliant narrative of European relations, particularly between France and Germany. The superb chapter on the Middle East makes for a clear indictment of the Sykes-Picot agreements and of their tracing of artificial borders. The chapter on the Arctic is precise and informative ...A very lively, sensible and informative series of country reports in which geography occupies its rightful place along with shrewd historical reminders and political judgments. --Survival: Global Politics and Strategy This book is especially timely...Landscapes, rugged or otherwise, and what the land holds in resources, exert their own kind of sway that no one, not even a Putin, can surmount. This book grabbed me because of its enormous relevance to our world today. --Booktrib.com A convincing analysis of Russian geopoliticalthinking....Also makes clear the terrible price the world has had to paybecause European officials decided to create nation-states with borders thatcompletely ignored cultural geography. --Washington Post Quite simply, one of the best books about geopolitics you could imagine: reading it is like having a light shone on your understanding. --The Evening Standard Fans of geography, history and politics (and maps) will be enthralled. --Fort Worth Star-Telegram Marshall's insistence on seeing the world through the lens of geography compels a fresh way of looking at maps--not just as objects for orientation or works of art, but as guideposts to the often thorny relations between nations. --New York Times Book Review In an ever more complex, chaotic and interlinked world, Prisoners of Geography is a concise and useful primer on geo-politics. --Newsweek Europe