Myths of Geography: Eight Ways We Get the World Wrong
Oct 2024 · Hachette UK
Ebook
288
Pages
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About this ebook
Outstanding. Completely reframes how you see the world in the very first chapter, and then does it again seven more times. You'll never look at a map the same way again - Jonn Elledge, author of A History of the World in 47 Borders
Is geography really destiny?
Our maps may no longer be stalked by dragons and monsters, but our perceptions of the world are still shaped by geographic myths. Myths like Europe being the centre of the world. Or that border walls are the solution to migration. Or that Russia is predestined to threaten its neighbours.
In his punchy and authoritative new book, Paul Richardson challenges recent popular accounts of geographical determinism and shows that how the world is represented often isn't how it really is - that the map is not the territory.
Along the way we visit some remarkable places: Iceland's Thingvellir National Park, where you can swim between two continents, and Bir Tawil in North Africa, one of the world's only territories not claimed by any country. We follow the first train that ran across Eurasia between Yiwu in east China and Barking in east London, and scale the US-Mexico border wall to find out why such fortifications don't work.
Written with verve and full of quotable facts, Myths of Geography is a book that will turn your world upside down.
Is geography really destiny?
Our maps may no longer be stalked by dragons and monsters, but our perceptions of the world are still shaped by geographic myths. Myths like Europe being the centre of the world. Or that border walls are the solution to migration. Or that Russia is predestined to threaten its neighbours.
In his punchy and authoritative new book, Paul Richardson challenges recent popular accounts of geographical determinism and shows that how the world is represented often isn't how it really is - that the map is not the territory.
Along the way we visit some remarkable places: Iceland's Thingvellir National Park, where you can swim between two continents, and Bir Tawil in North Africa, one of the world's only territories not claimed by any country. We follow the first train that ran across Eurasia between Yiwu in east China and Barking in east London, and scale the US-Mexico border wall to find out why such fortifications don't work.
Written with verve and full of quotable facts, Myths of Geography is a book that will turn your world upside down.
About the author
Paul Richardson is Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He is an established scholar in the field of Geography and Russian Studies, and the former President of the Association for Borderland Studies. He has previously held academic positions at Hokkaido University in Japan and the Far Eastern Federal University in Russia. Myths of Geography is his first book for a general audience.
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