Play Book Tag discussion

Prisoners of Geography – Tim Marshall
4****

Subtitle: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World - or in U.K. editions: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics

I’ve always been relatively good at geography, and yet I wouldn’t say I’m particularly interested in or fascinated by the subject. Until now.

This was a selection for my F2F book club and I’ll admit I went into it with some reluctance. So, I was pleasantly surprised at how very readable and understandable Marshall’s work is. I quickly became engaged in the way he outlined the benefits and challenges of various geographical features. A lack of a warm water port, or a mountain range border, for example can make or break the fortunes of a nation. Not to mention the happy coincidence of finding a wealth of natural resources within your borders – oil, gold, diamonds, copper, rubber.

My husband is retired from a career in international business. The only continent he has not visited is Antarctica. After he left the corporate world he took consulting assignments, including working for U.S. AID. He still reads widely about world affairs, global economics, and geopolitics. So, much of this book was not news to me; I’ve been listening to my husband talk about these topics at the dinner table for years. But Marshall organizes and presents the information, along with some interesting conclusions (or suggestions) in a way that really captured my attention. I recommended the book to my husband; after about ten pages he said, “Haven’t I been saying this to you for years?” Yes, Dear, you have; but NOW I understand it.

LINK to my review


Post Script: Hubby is now about half-way through the library book and has announced that we should buy it and have it on hand for future reference. This is the same man who has told me that if I buy one more book I have to give two away!

Hi BC. I have had this book on my tbr list for a short while. After reading your review, I checked my library. The hard copy is available for reference only. But the book is available on Hoopla.
There seems to be some problem with my Hoopla account. I trust the librarians will be able to help me. I am now excited about this book because of your review.
Thanks for sharing :-)