A review of ‘Prisoners of Geography’ by Tim Marshall
Long ago, before Power Point existed, people used to use acetates on overhead projectors. Just like their digital successors, people often used too many of them, or used them ineptly. A friend of mine in local government got so sick of them that he would refer with glee to an A.F.T or ‘acetate free talk’.
However, there was one really good use for them. A skilled geographer could project the familiar outline of a country on the screen, and then overlay onto it all kinds of details hitherto hidden from the audience. Historic battlegrounds, physical features, ancient lines of tension could all be added. With each new deftly placed sheet the country would spring to life afresh.
This is exactly what Tim Marshall has done in his book. For somebody with a limited grasp on physical, let alone political geography, this book has been an eye opener in every sense. I now understand in ways that I never did before how much impact physical geography has on political reality. Within these pages you will find a heady mixture of accurate analysis and almost poetic description. Consider this, for example, from the chapter on the Middle East:
The Europeans used ink to draw lines on maps: they were lines that did not exist in reality and created some of the most artificial borders the world has ever seen. An attempt is now being made to redraw them in blood.
I challenge you to read such a sentence only once! Memorable phrases such as the description of the EU being set up in such a way that France and Germany ‘could hug each other so tightly in a loving embrace that neither would be able to get an arm free with which to punch the other’ stick in the mind too. This is neither a political book about geography nor a geographical book about politics – it is both.
Chapters are included on Russia, China, USA, Western Europe, Africa, The Middle East, India and Pakistan, Korea and Japan, Latin America and the Arctic. There is also one final chapter which may bend your mind a little – but I shall leave that particular surprise waiting for you. If you are worried about the dumbing down of news but want to find out for yourself what lies behind the international headlines, this book would be a great place to start.
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