Liz's Reviews > Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World (1)

This book is a bible when understanding what is going on in the world. I studied geography as an undergrad and I don't remember it being this fascinating. I jumped around in the book as my interest and the news was drawing attention to certain areas of conflict so I could get some understanding of the "bigger" picture or the map of the area. I found this most enlightening and makes me a better judge of the "news" that is being presented. I got the feeling that a lot more history into an area could have been addressed but it would have made the book too long.
The only weakness in the writing was the author's apparent complete buy in to the current economic value system- growth at all costs- as he only, in passing, spoke of the environmental devastation occurring as a result of the politics. However, he probably is only being realistic and I am more of an idealist. He even speaks of the growing interest into the frontier of space and how, more than likely, our national interests take precedence over human interests even in space. We are a greedy species that doesn't play well with others. In the final sentence he writes; "...we are still imprisoned in our own minds, confined by our suspicion of the "other", and thus our primal competition for resources. We have a long way to go."
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be an informed voter. A lot of things on the world stage would become much clearer after getting a grasp of the geopolitics at play.

P.S. How many people know that China is building another "Panama Canal" through Nicaragua? I didn't and I consider myself rather well read...