Earlier this year I wrote about my seven favorite books from the fifty I read last year. Tied for second place was Tim Marshall's book The Prisoners of Geography.
This year I read read his newer book, The Power of Geography. It was fascinating in some places, but had too much detail in others. The section of Saudi Arabia, for instance, went way to much into the sordid history of the Saudi royal family. The endpoint is a murderous, duplicitous dictator. The path was--murder and lies.
Part of the problem with the book is the thesis: it is a hope for the future book. the Prisoners of Geography tells us why geography is destiny, mostly cruel destiny. It's a better story line than "Here are the hopeful bits."
For those obsessed with geography, the book is useful and very interesting in parts: Spain and the United Kingdom especially. But read Prisoners first.
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