Book Review: Prisoners of Geography, by Tim Marshall

       Every now and then, a writer takes on the world, for better or for worse.  Tim Marshall is a modern writer on the subject of world politics/geopolitics, and world hot spots.  He is a British journalist and reporter and has reported on world politics for over 30 years.  He was political editir for Sky News, worked for the BBC, and has written for the NY Times.  He has authored several books, and this one is a best seller.   He was educated at Otley University(now Easton) in Norwich, in the south east of the UK.
       This book follows a reporter's path around the globe.  He covers all the usual suspects, and does an admirable job blending history with geography, much as a professional geographer would in any academic research.   Mr. Marshall's experience covering major topics comes shining through as he navigates the ebb and flow of boundary lines;  the dissolution of blended governments; the assumption of others; the fall of leaders; the rise of replacements; the struggle for power among minority elements of the population; the mass migrations of the disaffected.   His title reflects a new twist on an older geographic theory: essentially-environmental determinism: geography dictates man's use of the natural landscape.  However, centuries of study and research have given this ideology the lie:  man is the determining factor, and willfully bends the landscape to his will.   This in itself runs head long into the current coinage that man has over reached and must in time yield to nature or suffer a continuous setback.
      So, Mr. Marshall, despite the book's title, reports on world events with a look at history; with the 20th century events as the keystone of his efforts.  As it proceeds along a circuitous world journey, he is able to put politics in perspective relative to today's hotspots, be they in the Middle East, Africa, South America, China, Russia, and North America.   While many places and names are familiar to media readers/followers, many more obscure places often are unknown to average readers.  He is able to bring these countries into sharp focus and identify cause and effect.  While he does well with the landscape, he over states the weight of position on the globe:  coastal, mountainous, high elevation, high latitudes, desert proximity, navigable rivers, suitable river flows, deep water harbors, growing season length, trade facilitators and trade enhancers, weather and climate.
      The attached map of USA highlights both natural landscape and population centers as regional responses to the coronavirus differed among the states: the northeast saw almost no traffic movement, while in the South and West, differences are apparent, but more to do with politics than landscape/geography.

Map of USA Travel Volumes March 27, 2020

       I recommend this book as a modern reader to assist the citizenry to assess the worldwide response to the pandemic we are living with, now  and in the immediate future.