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A review by edwardhabib
The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World by Tim Marshall
4.0
8/10. I am a big fan of Tim Marshall's Politics of Place books, and The Power of Geography is no exception. This book is a proper follow-up to Prisoners of Geography. Across 10 chapters in a tight 259-page volume, Marshall takes readers on a snappy and informative world tour, highlighting many of the pressing geopolitical challenges shaping the twenty-first century, including climate change, great power competition, political fragmentation and regionalism, resource distribution, and even the looming frontier of space.
I really enjoy and appreciate Marshall's efforts to give readers a brief but adequate grounding in history, culture, and geography in the first few pages of each chapter. For example, understanding the relationship between England and Scotland prior to the Union of 1707 adds so much richness to contemporary discussions about Scottish independence. The same can be said for the age-old rivalry between Greece and Turkey.
Of the ten chapters in The Power of Geography, the standouts for me were Marshall's coverage of Australia, The United Kingdom, Turkey, The Sahel, and Space.
My biggest disappointment with this book was that it felt somewhat incomplete, or that the premise of featuring "ten maps that reveal the future of our world" was not truly fulfilled. This book really is just a sequel to Prisoners of Geography and I suppose Marshall did not want to retread ground by having whole chapters explicitly discuss the United States, China, the European Union, or Russia. That said, there is a lot to learn here about each of those powers. The Australia chapter provided a fascinating lens through which to understand China's challenge to the United States in the Pacific. The Sahel chapter was similarly illuminating in framing how and why great powers operate in fragile but resource-rich states, and how what happens in a place like Niger or Mali matters a great deal to the global economy, counter-terrorism efforts, controlling migration, and maintaining the stability of North Africa and Europe.
I strongly recommend The Power of Geography to anyone looking to dip their toes into geopolitics and world history. Even students of international relations and history will surely learn new things from Marshall's work. As with Marshall's other works, I am sure I will refer back to parts of this book from time to time and will re-read chapters whenever I need to brush up on a particular area of the world (or the galaxy).
I really enjoy and appreciate Marshall's efforts to give readers a brief but adequate grounding in history, culture, and geography in the first few pages of each chapter. For example, understanding the relationship between England and Scotland prior to the Union of 1707 adds so much richness to contemporary discussions about Scottish independence. The same can be said for the age-old rivalry between Greece and Turkey.
Of the ten chapters in The Power of Geography, the standouts for me were Marshall's coverage of Australia, The United Kingdom, Turkey, The Sahel, and Space.
My biggest disappointment with this book was that it felt somewhat incomplete, or that the premise of featuring "ten maps that reveal the future of our world" was not truly fulfilled. This book really is just a sequel to Prisoners of Geography and I suppose Marshall did not want to retread ground by having whole chapters explicitly discuss the United States, China, the European Union, or Russia. That said, there is a lot to learn here about each of those powers. The Australia chapter provided a fascinating lens through which to understand China's challenge to the United States in the Pacific. The Sahel chapter was similarly illuminating in framing how and why great powers operate in fragile but resource-rich states, and how what happens in a place like Niger or Mali matters a great deal to the global economy, counter-terrorism efforts, controlling migration, and maintaining the stability of North Africa and Europe.
I strongly recommend The Power of Geography to anyone looking to dip their toes into geopolitics and world history. Even students of international relations and history will surely learn new things from Marshall's work. As with Marshall's other works, I am sure I will refer back to parts of this book from time to time and will re-read chapters whenever I need to brush up on a particular area of the world (or the galaxy).