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The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World – the sequel to Prisoners of Geography Paperback – 1 Oct. 2021
Tim Marshall (Author) See search results for this author |
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*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*
'I can't imagine reading a better book this year’ Daily Mirror
Tim Marshall's global bestseller Prisoners of Geography showed how every nation’s choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Since then, the geography hasn’t changed. But the world has.
In this revelatory new book, Marshall explores ten regions that are set to shape global politics in a new age of great-power rivalry: Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Greece, Turkey, the Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain and Space. Find out why Europe’s next refugee crisis is closer than it thinks as trouble brews in the Sahel; why the Middle East must look beyond oil and sand to secure its future; why the eastern Mediterranean is one of the most volatile flashpoints of the twenty-first century; and why the Earth’s atmosphere is set to become the world’s next battleground.
Delivered with Marshall’s trademark wit and insight, this is a lucid and gripping exploration of the power of geography to shape humanity’s past, present – and future.
‘Another outstanding guide to the modern world. Marshall is a master at explaining what you need to know and why.’ Peter Frankopan
- Print length432 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherElliott & Thompson Limited
- Publication date1 Oct. 2021
- Dimensions14.2 x 4 x 20.5 cm
- ISBN-101783966025
- ISBN-13978-1783966028
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Review
‘A skilful navigation of the regions that could define geopolitics for future generations. One to read to stay ahead of the game.’ Dharshini David, author of The Almighty Dollar
‘A compelling account of the return of geopolitics by the master of maps.’ Professor Brendan Simms, author of Britain’s Europe
‘An insight into what will shape the world . . . clear writing in complex times.’ Eamonn Holmes
‘Quite simply, one of the best books about geopolitics you could imagine: reading it is like having a light shone on your understanding’ --Nicholas Lezard, Evening Standard, on Prisoners of Geography
'A useful reminder of the value of consulting an atlas before blundering into world affairs, and especially so in times of rising geopolitical tensions . . . interesting insights.' Financial Times
'Marshall's books are excellent for anyone who takes satisfaction in understanding the world and who harbours a fascination for the shifting alliances . . . Each segment of The Power of Geography is accessible, although by no means simple. Marshall covers much ground, moving smoothly through each nation's background, current struggles and options for the future . . . A sharp and concise evaluations of today's geopolitics.' --Geographical Magazine
From the Back Cover
Tim Marshall's global bestseller Prisoners of Geography showed how every nation’s choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Since then, the geography hasn’t changed. But the world has.
In this revelatory new book, Marshall explores ten regions that are set to shape global politics in a new age of great-power rivalry: Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Greece, Turkey, the Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain and Space. Find out why Europe’s next refugee crisis is closer than it thinks as trouble brews in the Sahel; why the Middle East must look beyond oil and sand to secure its future; why the eastern Mediterranean is one of the most volatile flashpoints of the twenty-first century; and why the Earth’s atmosphere is set to become the world’s next battleground.
Delivered with Marshall’s trademark wit and insight, this is a lucid and gripping exploration of the power of geography to shape humanity’s past, present – and future.
‘Another outstanding guide to the modern world. Marshall is a master at explaining what you need to know and why.’ Peter Frankopan
About the Author
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Product details
- Publisher : Elliott & Thompson Limited; 2nd edition (1 Oct. 2021)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1783966025
- ISBN-13 : 978-1783966028
- Dimensions : 14.2 x 4 x 20.5 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer reviews:
About the author

Tim Marshall was Diplomatic Editor and foreign correspondent for Sky News. After thirty years’ experience in news reporting and presenting, he left full time news journalism to concentrate on writing and analysis.
Originally from Leeds, Tim arrived at broadcasting from the road less traveled. Not a media studies or journalism graduate, in fact not a graduate at all, after a wholly unsuccessful career as a painter and decorator he worked his way through newsroom nightshifts, and unpaid stints as a researcher and runner before eventually securing himself a foothold on the first rung of the broadcasting career ladder.
After three years as IRN’s Paris correspondent and extensive work for BBC radio and TV, Tim joined Sky News. Reporting from Europe, the USA and Asia, Tim became Middle East Correspondent based in Jerusalem.
Tim also reported in the field from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia during the Balkan wars of the 1990’s. He spent the majority of the 1999 Kosovo crisis in Belgrade, where he was one of the few western journalists who stayed on to report from one of the main targets of NATO bombing raids. Tim was in Kosovo to greet the NATO troops on the day they advanced into Pristina. In recent years he covered the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria.
He has written for many of the national newspapers including the Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, and the Sunday Times.
Tim’s first book, Shadowplay: The Overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic, was a bestseller in former Yugoslavia and continues to be one of the most highly regarded accounts of that period. A second book, “Dirty Northern B*st*rds!” and Other Tales from the Terraces: The Story of Britain’s Football Chants was published in 2014, to widespread acclaim. His third book is ‘Prisoners of Geography’ and has been published in the UK, USA. Germany, Japan, Turky, and Taiwan. His latest book is ‘Worth Dying For. The Power and Politics of Flags’. The paperback, and a U.S version of this are due out in the spring of this year.
Tim has been shot with bird pellet in Cairo, hit over the head with a plank of wood in London, bruised by the police in Tehran, arrested by Serbian intelligence, detained in Damascus, declared persona non grata in Croatia, bombed by the RAF in Belgrade and tear-gassed all over the world. However, he says none of this compares with the experience of going to see his beloved Leeds United away at Millwall FC in London.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 July 2021
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That may sound obvious, perhaps trite, but a government or a leader forgets it at their peril. They must understand exactly where they are and how much fuel they have in the tank – Napoleon was not the first or last to forget that lesson and he was taught a harsh one in the Russian winter of 1812. An example in the book is Saudi Arabia. The tribal character of the country was forged in the heat of its deserts, and its place in the world is founded on its key resource underneath the sand. But when the oil was found the population was about 2 million. Now it is 34 million. If the world weans itself off oil, what sustains 34 million people in a country with limited agricultural land? The decisions the House of Saud is now making to diversify its economy are based on geography. Since the end of the Second World War, putting geography front and centre in international relations has been regarded with suspicion due to its alleged ‘determinism’, and has been eclipsed by hard economics and technology. The high priests of foreign policy, more in academia than in government, came to see it as poor thinking akin to fatalism. That, however, is in itself poor thinking and flies in the face of common sense. Russia’s President Putin did not take a keen interest in the 2020 election in Belarus due to its potential consumer market for Russian goods or as an emerging high-tech nation.
Every Russian leader involves themselves in the immediate territories west of Moscow because it is mostly flat land through which Russia has been invaded, or through which Russian power projects westward. In the case of Belarus it is also linked with the Suwalki Gap, connecting to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. It’s also the pathway to the Smolensk Gate – territory into which military forces are channelled during conflicts, recent examples being the Germans into Russia in 1941, and then the Russians into Poland and on to Germany two years later. What happens in Belarus is of huge interest to Washington DC, Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, Russia and others, and that interest is overwhelmingly based on the continuity of geography. When we see the news of pro-democracy demonstrations in Minsk, we are looking at people’s aspirations about freedom and economic wellbeing, but we are also looking at geographic insecurities. Words can tell you the ‘what’; maps can help you understand the ‘why’. Rivers, mountains, deserts, islands and the seas are determining factors in history. Leaders, ideas and economics are crucial, but they are temporary, and geography is ever present. As the Dutch-American geopolitical writer Nicholas Spykman said: ‘Geography does not argue. It simply is’. This is an accessible, fascinating and information-rich read filled with up to the minute facts and statistics about our would, its geography and the story that can be foretold from the way things are currently. Highly recommended.
The chapters on Greece, Turkey, Iran were very good. There is an interesting mix of history facts and geography facts. I think what is very interesting is how geography has historically acted as a barrier or natural defence against other nations and so on.
Also the chapter on the U.K. was interesting. (Especially for those interested in the possibly break up of the U.K.)
The title refers to Geography, yet the maps are very inadequate in black and gray making it difficult to distinguish features. The maps are not properly labelled and features mentioned in the text are not highlighted.
Chapters refer to different countries and start with a historical/political introduction with some geography interspersed. The text seemed more political opinion than research with events presented in a very superficial way.
Perhaps it would have been better if the author focused the book on Geography as the title suggests.
I liked both books of Tim related to the power of geography in shaping countries decisions.
The only remark I have is that he gave too much material to country's history more than to its geography!