Prisoners of Geography
PRISONERS OF GEOGRAPHY by TIM MARSHALL While landscapes may look aesthetically pleasing they also define our way of life. Numerous scholars have sought to highlight this aspect in their works, we have for example the Pulitzer prize winner Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond and Why the West Rules for Now by Ian Morris. These works within themselves take note of numerous other scholars who have brought this idea of geography as an ever-present and ever influencing force that not only defines how we live now but also dictates the future. One of the comments that Marshall puts forth quite early in the book is that humans unlike other living organisms on earth are able to invent and innovate in order to overcome these "Rules of Geography." Still, Nature has been calling shots for most of human history. Tim Marshall has divided the book or the globe into ten parts. Three of these are world powers (US, Russia and China) while others are regions where a number of different cou...