The premise is obvious. And I already know what I feel that I need to, because I know the shape of our world. The details are political, and I am not. Intro. and Concl. enough for me. But you may love it!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, because it was both educational and entertaining. It helped me further understand geopolitics on a global scale, and elaborated on why certain regions developed differently because of their surrounding geography. The author also achieves a high level of content density while still making the book exciting to read, which is one of the reasons I consider it above average. Overall, a good read. Very informational. ( )

The author looks at various countries around the world and shows how their geography helps or hinders them in their attempts to expand, develop, or defend themselves. Fascinating and a welcome aid to understanding the stories behind the news. ( )

An interesting look at how geographical features have and continue to drive international behavior. Written in the mid-2010’s, its predictions and outlook remain prescient 10 years later. ( )

Nicely written, well explaining, I have not being annoyed by ubiquitous bias. I totally enjoyed it. ( )

A competent and engaging book, looking at ten major areas of geopolitical activity and concern. There are probably no great revelations here, but the chapters do give a workmanlike survey of the main tension points. For example, the case of India and Pakistan brings out well how both countries have been the prisoners of their rivalry in Kashmir, and also (as denoted by the book's title) the significance of the great Himalayan barrier between China and India in geopolitical terms. What I think it does not bring out, however, are any more searching critiques of the Sino-Indian conflict, nor how a change in attitude could lead to peace and synergy. The discussion on Russia does suggest a less black-and-white approach, not painting them as madmen or evil-doers, but trying to get under the surface and appraise their strategic thinking and goals in the context of their geographical vulnerabilities.
The book is well put together, and such a breezy read, that I have been enthused to get his other book in the series titled "The Power of Geography", looking forward to good rainy day read! ( )

The chapters were really dense but with the page count being roughly 300pgs, they kinda have to be with a topic as complex as geopolitics. Like it definitely didn't cover everything but it did a good job at explaining why current relationships between a lot of countries are the way they are. Such as the conflicts between Ukraine and Russia + Palestine and Israel for example. Believe it was published in the last 5-10 years as the information didn't seem extremely outdated. The only giveaway for this is how it talks of the years 2019-2023 in the future tense. ( )

Excellent work on geography and geopolitics. Unfortunately, it has become dated rather quickly and really needs to be updated or it makes no sense to include the political angle on everything. It is also extremely dense. There is so much information stuffed into this slim volume that it is hard to take it all in. I learned a lot and will likely go back and re-read parts of it when I'm interested in a particular part of the world. ( )

The book is well-written and the subject interesting, but the "lay of the land" is somewhat out of date now, almost 10 years after publication.

However, a lot of the author's observations and even predictions held up reasonably well.

The maps could have been better IMO, but that's true of every geography book I read. ( )

This book should be a must read for all global citizens. Learning about geography is important ... but learning about the historical, political, and economic impact (and decisions) that geography had on nations is entertaining AND informative. Each chapter focuses on a different part of the world to keep your attention and the information relevant. The author is very scientific in his writing which should make this readable by all. ( )

Interesting to learn about how physical position influences foreign policy choices. Great information for anyone interested, but difficult to get through. ( )

An interesting overview of the world and its geography. Written in 2015 and already feeling a little dated. Also almost ignores global warming. ( )

(2.5, rounded up to 3)
This was supposed to be a primer on maps and geography first, and how it relates to history later. What should have been a compelling read is reduced to short paragraphs of text which look like they have been lifted straight from Wikipedia, which is not a compliment.

Two glaring flaws jump at you once you finish this book. The first being that Marshall's treatment is superficial at best and unconvincing at worst - I sometimes felt that even the author wasn't convinced that rivers and mountains have influenced history to the extent that he describes. Secondly, Marshall is an unabashed neoliberal - his beliefs are that Latin America is in dire straits because they had socialism, colonialism happened and we should all get over it, and trust for American hegemony is very much implicit within the text.

All in all, the book is a decent introductory read if you are a novice on geopolitics, but if one is already aware of what is going on in the world and wanted to know the ground reality, as I did, then this book is not a good starting point. There are some good things to be said about the book but the consistently glossing over details and the pretending that Australia doesn't exist does it no favours.

The final chapter, where Marshall states that humanity is so divided that we cannot contemplate travelling the universe as representatives of mankind but will still think of ourselves as Indians, Americans, Russians or Chinese – is a sobering one. This is the only place where he made me believe in the prisoners of geography argument – and better late than never, I suppose. ( )

The only thing that would have made this book better was if it was a little longer, a little more detailed. That said, for a book that could easily be 1000 pages long, or even 10 or 12 separate and lengthy tomes, this 'version' was a very informative tour-guide. ( )

Uses maps of ten world regions to explain the geopolitical strategies and histories of each region, showing how the physical characteristics of these regions affect their strengths and vulnerabilities and the decisions made by their leaders.

This book was informative at a high-level and provided a well-rounded context for most countries and their leaders. It filled in some gaps in my knowledge. It was easy to read and kept me interested throughout. I enjoyed it and may read the next in his series. ( )

A really informative book, that I thought was going to be a dream come true. The premise is having each chapter focus on a map, and explain the importance of the geography throughout the history of the region. As a lover of maps, I absolutely ate this up.

However it tries to do a little too much and I think the book would have been much better to focus in a little more. Trying to summarize complex geopolitical situations in 1-2 paragraphs just feels like it's getting unfairly summarized at times.

Some of the chapters are just way too zoomed out, and it suffers. Africa and Middle East were two particularly bad chapters in this regard, I think it would have been much better to have zoomed in on those (such as focusing just on Israel/Palestine, instead of the entire Middle East).

That being said, the chapters where it could zoom in on this and really dig into the geography and history of a region were done really well. Pakistan/India was a personal favorite, but Russia and China chapters were also good.

Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, Arctic chapters were all too broad in my opinion and should have been more focused. ( )

I love maps, so when this book crossed my desk I thought I'd give it a read. It outlines the history of specific regions -- mostly troubled ones -- and how their geography has influenced their development. In particular, the author discusses how features such as mountains and waterways help or hinder a region. Comparing, for example, the United States, which has a system of long, navigable rivers (I'm talking about you, Mississippi) and South America, whose primary river system is the Amazon, which has multiple waterfalls and is surrounded by dangerous and impenetrable jungles -- as he describes it, you can totally understand how the American economy had a much better opportunity to develop, since goods and people can move so much more easily. There is a ton about politics here as well, with territorial disputes defining relationships and explaining conflicts, particularly in regions where colonial powers have drawn arbitrary lines, often along those river and mountain systems, that are meaningless to the indigenous populations, who get stuck within borders that discount and divide them. It's super interesting, and brought me a greater understanding of the world I live in. ( )

Eight-word summary: "What fits where and why you should care".
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All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture.If you've ever wondered why Putin is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was destined to become a global superpower, or why China's power base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here.In ten chapters (covering Russia; China; the USA; Latin America; the Middle East; Africa; India and Pakistan; Europe; Japan and Korea; and the Arctic), using maps, essays and occasionally the personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential insight into one of the major factors that determines world history.It's time to put the 'geo' back into geopolitics.

Who knew how important the geography of a land is in explaining its history and predicting it future success. I was very impressed with the author's amazing research and geographical knowledge and insights into the how and why a country/continent has evolved over time. It will be my go to reference guide as a refresher when I travel to different areas of the world. ( )

Pretty good geopolitical analysis.

There's a hint of laziness to the book. The author claims adding a chapter (which all seem to be about 25 pages) on Australia or Malay/Indo/Micronesia would excessively bloat this 265-page book. The maps appear to be pulled straight from the CIA World Factbook, and the author doesn't bother to add labels for areas that he refers to in the text as important. A couple of the two-page maps lose a significant amount of territory to the binding.

One is left with the feeling that there were maybe six or seven areas the author wanted to cover in-depth, and the publisher talked him up to ten.

Still, it's good, and very much worth the time. ( )

This author is brilliant. I never paid much attention to history and geography in school, but Marshall has totally turned me on to the subjects. So well-written and compelling. Recommend for anyone interested in the our globe! ( )

Marshall blends history with geography to attempt to explain contemporary geopolitics. He does a fairly good job of making the case that we underestimate the importance of geography in relations between states, and the book is well-written and engaging. I was thinking as I was reading that this was someone who would get on with Jared Diamond, and then a brief quote from the section on Africa, plus the fact that Guns, Germs & Steel heads up the bibliography confirmed my suspicions.

By starting with Russia, and then wrapping back to it in the final Arctic section, Marshall lays his cards on the table as to where he thinks the most geopolitical turmoil in the coming century is likely to come from. He may not be wrong. I would quibble with his characterisation of the Middle East, particularly the Arab Spring - which I happened to write my dissertation on - as I think in his haste to get back to geography he undersells the economic and political causes of the movement. Still, mostly the book is highly informative, and well worth reading if you have an interest in geopolitics. ( )

Ebben a könyvben az a fantasztikus, hogy egyfelől egy nagyszerű, a teljesség illúzióját lehelő szöveg a világpolitika kérdéseiről, mégpedig olvasmányos köntösben, aminek köszönhetően a laikusok is bátran kézbe vehetik. Másfelől pedig egy olyan szemléletet visz a geopolitikába, ami a rutinos, ujját a világesemények érverésén tartó olvasót is képes új meglátásokkal megörvendeztetni. Marshall megközelítésének lényege, hogy maga a földrajz predesztinálja az államokat, népeket és vezetőket arra, hogy bizonyos döntéseket meghozzanak – egy olyan stratégiailag fontos magaslat például, mint amilyen a Golán-fennsík Izrael és Szíria határán, eleve, a maga fizikai ottlevőségénél fogva garancia arra, hogy az adott országok időről időre megkíséreljék akár fegyverrel is birtokukba venni, már csak azért is, nehogy a másik ország előzze meg őket. Ugyanez a helyzet áll fenn vízgyűjtő medencék, hajózható folyók, nyersanyagban gazdag területek, meleg vizű kikötők és tengerszorosok relációjában – következésképpen maga a földrajzi egység az, ami magában hordozza a konfliktus, a felemelkedés vagy hanyatlás ígéretét. Ilyen szempontból ez egy monokauzális kötet – vagyis mindent, de tényleg mindent a földrajz jelenségeiből kíván levezetni –, amiből következik persze, hogy időnként egyszerűsít, szisztematikusan csoportosítja az érveket, és szinte teljesen figyelmen kívül hagyja azt a tényt, hogy a döntéshozók akár dönthetnek máshogy is, mint amit a geográfia sugalmaz nekik. (Meg aztán biztos észrevettétek már, hogy egy eseményt utólag mindig sokkal egyszerűbb levezetni az általunk fontosnak tartott okokból, mint ugyanezt az eseményt megjósolni előre, ugyanezekből az okokból. Hm, érdekes.) Ugyanakkor ez a szemlélet tényleg nagyon sok új elemet hoz be a geopolitika tudományába, olyasmiket, amelyekre ugyan már gondoltunk, de ilyen nagy, organikus egységbe foglalva még sosem láttuk őket.

Marshallnak van egy hűvösen ironikus, tárgyilagos stílusa, amivel elfogultságtól mentesen képes vizsgálni az államok döntéseit – ami nem is csoda, hiszen ha egyszer a földrajz kényszeríti az országokat bizonyos döntésekre, akkor tényleg nem sok tere marad a moralizálásnak. A tíz világtérkép, melyet elemzésre kiválaszt, nagyjából lefedi az ismert világot, a tíz esszé pedig, amit hozzá kerekít, mind meglehetősen áptudét*, és nagy szakmai éleslátásról tesz tanúbizonyságot. Külön öröm, hogy Marshall nem hagyja, hogy befolyásolják a fotel-geopolitikai stratégák által hangoztatott klisék (pl. „Az amerikai világrendnek vége! A kínai évezredbe léptünk!”), hanem mindig következetesen saját elméletére támaszkodik – ez is logikus, ha belegondolunk, hogy a földrajzot nem írja fölül még a drasztikus GDP-növekedés sem: Kína kijárata a világtengerekre továbbra is más országok jóindulatától függ, az USA pedig, problémák ide vagy oda, földrajzi értelemben továbbra is ideális helyzetben marad.

Összességében tehát erősen ajánlatos olvasmány geopolitika iránt érdeklődőknek – benne van a lehetőség, hogy Kissinger vagy Brzezinski munkáihoz hasonlóan a téma klasszikusa legyen. Különösen, mert olvasóbarátabb náluk – páratlanul jól tagolt és elemeiben kifejezetten szórakoztató könyv.

* Bár nyilván ezt a nagy észak-koreai – amerikai egymásra borulást nem látta előre… mint ahogy szerintem senki se. Hogy a világ két legtrendibb hajú vezetője egyszer csak nem atomrakétát lő ki egymásra, hanem haverkodásba bonyolódik.

( )

Despite the title, this isn't really a book about maps at all, it's a thumbnail guide to the geopolitics of the mid-2010s written by an experienced foreign correspondent. His "ten maps" cover parts of the world where there are important military or economic conflicts, which seems to mean everywhere except the central Pacific, Antarctica and Australasia. An ideal book to put on your shelf if you were (for instance) a bumbling Old Etonian suddenly promoted to Foreign Secretary of a former global power and hadn't read anything more recent than Xenophon.

Marshall has the journalistic gift of serving up all the relevant facts in a very compact and efficient form that can easily be read through in the taxi on your way to the meeting, as well as giving you two or three slightly more obscure items you could safely drop into a conversation to convey deeper levels of knowledge. Nothing very profound, but a useful primer if you don't read the foreign news very often.

With the hindsight of six years since the book was last updated, Marshall made some good but perhaps obvious calls — in particular his view that "Russia has not finished with Ukraine yet" (ch.1) and his prediction that Afghanistan would have to be handed back to the control of the Taliban sooner or later (ch.7) — but he also seems to have let himself be misled by Brexit rhetoric into predicting the imminent collapse of European unity, and he failed to reckon with the USA's four-year holiday from grown-up (geo)politics and the collapse of the Nicaraguan Grand Canal project. ( )