Written just half a decade before, the foreseeable future that Marshall witnesses in this book, be it on land or in the space, has already come true. Russia started a war on Ukraine a few months ago, and just recently, colorful and baffling images arrived from the James Web telescope of 'exoplanets'. Last year, the space race began, where the three billionaire giants, launched their own individual commercial spaceships out of Earth’s atmosphere, thus beginning what might become a ‘thing’ of its own in the future ahead.
But what is happening, both here on Earth or up in space, doesn’t detract from the reality that we live in, and have been living in ever since the dawn, that is: the geography. Marshall writes in the conclusion on this book that, ‘Despite the technological advancements, a hundred years on, Russia would still be anxious about its Northern Plains, and Himalayas would still separate China from India’.
The fact that how our earth is shaped dictates so much of what has happened and is going on in our man-made world, it then becomes highly important for us to know how the mountains protect nations, how coastlines feed them, and how plains leave them vulnerable. Marshall’s precise yet very comprehensive book divides our world into ten maps, and by going through each of them, both in the historic and contemporary politics, he manages to explain everything there’s to know about our world.
The only problem, which might not even qualify as a problem, that I had with this book was its commercial-oriented-appeal, or in other words, its popularity among the lay people. When a fiction book gets, almost, globally popular, it brings joy to me as a reader that others are reading the same story that I have read, and are probably growing equally, if differently, as a result of it. For the nonfiction, my sentiments change. I wouldn’t see fit, someone who isn’t a proper or developed reader, to be a judge, promoter, or hailer of a book that written with academic proficiency, and thereby requires a level of academic excellence for it to be duly understood and appreciated.
Given the mass popularity of a nonfiction book, one of two things can be the reason behind it: either the book is so plainly written that it is okay for everyone to read and have opinions about it, or that mass number of readers have taken a very light approach to an otherwise important book, thereby taking away its gravity by recommending it so commonly. Again, this is just a very personal take on this book, and nothing more.
Having read Marshall’s book, I can confirm that this book strikes a very fine balance between being commercial and academic, in that it talks about geography in a way that is both commonly understandable, yet still requires of the reader some prior knowledge, interest, and analytical thinking, for the utmost comprehension of it.
Marshall begins this book, as any other geography book might start, with Russia: the biggest country in the world, which expands into two continents. Chapter one works as a familiarity experience for the nine other chapters to come, for the reader notices how Marshall not only talks separately about geography, history, and the region’s politics, but also combines them together to show the fate of these regions – which in Russia’s case is the threat from NATO in the Northern European Plain areas.
China, the Asian giant, is shown to be fighting its wars on waters and with roads for economic dominancy. USA is flattered for its desirable geography of secure borders and trading coastlines, yet also warned for its continuing tension with Russia and China. Western Europe, writes Marshall, isn’t as united as the American states, because their rivers divide them, and their ethnic identities are too strong; EU might seem a perfect resolution for a war-torn continent, but the reality is different. Africa presents a sad picture of an isolated band of nations, whose internal conflicts continue to rage on.
Middle East is a perfect example of why putting lines on a map you don’t understand is a recipe for disaster; the West has paid for their mistake, and will still pay going forward. Pakistan and India: the old familiar tale; although India has progressed to become its own economic power, the only rival to rising China. Korea and Japan present an engulfing case of how the wars of twentieth century affected the inhabitants of these islands; the tensions still remain, as the shadow of the cold war lumes. Latin America reflects the present tensions between USA and China on the economic front; otherwise, this is the Africa of the west. Finally, comes the Arctic, the battleground for the powerhouses in the decades to come: military dominancy and natural riches - fight!
I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s a
page-turner in essence, for the knowledge one gets about the planet Earth and
how it has influenced our politics, is both thrilling and fun to read. Marshall’s
‘Prisoner of Geography’ is one of those rare books that can be recommended to
almost anyone, knowing they’d learn something from it. But for the developed
readers, this book still has a lot to offer underneath.
Ratings: 4/5 **** July 13, 2022_