As per usual, an amazing, accessible and extremely informative book from one of my favourite non-fiction authors.

Review: The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World by Tim Marshall
Rating: 4 Stars
Tim Marshall is one of those authors that I will always buy purely because I studied Geography at university and he writes very well.
In this one, Marshall explores 10 regions that are set to shape global politics in a new age of great-power rivalry: Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Greece, Turkey, the Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain and Space. It’s a great exploration of how powerful geography is at shaping our present and our future.
Find out why Europe’s next refugee crisis is closer than it thinks as trouble brews in the Sahel; why the Middle East must look beyond oil and sand to secure its future; why the eastern Mediterranean is one of the most volatile flashpoints of the twenty-first century; and why the Earth’s atmosphere is set to become the world’s next battleground.
This book is an incredibly accessible way to learn more about geopolitics, power dynamics between countries and learn a bit more about how the world works. You’ll definitely learn something coming out of this book, whether it’s about governance, power dynamics caused by river flows, climate and topography influencing populations, along side general knowledge that I should have probably already known.
I would also highly recommend The Prisoners of Geography and Divided too!

I received this an ARC from Net Galley, thank you!

I am a huge fan of The Power of Geography and this is a similar book, offering similar insights. I really liked the perspective on geopolitics form some of the more powerful countries but I did think it somewhat fell down a bit by including too many countries. I think I would have preferred more depth and less countries. However I really loved how Tim Marshall condensed the history of countries and brought it right up to the present day in an informative yet entertaining way.I really feel that I've learned so much about the world from him.

I really loved Marshall's Prisoners of Geography, but I had a hard time finishing this. It felt like a struggle and I was relieved when I finally finished it. The last section on space was really interesting though, and I learned a lot from it.

This much-anticipated sequel to Prisoners of Geography did not disappoint. It offers a clever perspective on current geopolitics, however it was a bit surface level (definitely because I'm studying political science). However, a good sequel to the first bopl

Having read their previous book, Prisoners of Geography, this continues in much the same vain, albeit it different countries and brought up to date.
Very interesting, and really makes you more aware of why current world events might be taking place, future risks, and offers a helpful history to areas not normally covered on many school curriculums.
Would recommend if you like geography, current affairs or brief histories.

Really interesting and the histories provided were really informative. But the pro-Western country tone was a bit weird and hard to ignore. Especially re: the Sahel and Space.

I received a free eARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In The Power of Geography Tim Marshall returns to explore the geopolitical and historical aspects of ten nations, and how those factors led them to where they are now. While I enjoy Marshall's writing style, I found that this book leaned more heavily into history than geography. Which is fine, but my expectations were completely different, leading to a bit of a disconnect.
I generally found this book very interesting, but occasionally I felt the analysis to be a bit shallow, and I was left wanting... more. Still, a fascinating book, and eminently readable. I recommend to those interested in history, geography, and politics, especially their interconnection.

This is a stimulating book of facts and figures giving insight into the geopolitical and historical reasons countries take action in the way they do. A stimulating exposure to issues of ten countries that shed light and force questions to what appears to the unaware bystander random decisions and judgments. This author delves into the subject matter with the same intent as his original best seller, Prisoners of Geography and both should be on the critical reading list for schools if the younger generations are to have any chance of changing the world in their careers and choices using the knowledge gained from books like these in their future careers and life choices .Many thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for ARC.

This was an enjoyable and informative read for me, though I think my biggest gripe is that it lacked a strong central thesis. Marshall presents a series of chapters which, although interesting in and of themselves, don't really connect together. Each is a standalone without a clear sense of why these nations or geographical regions have been chosen out of the many candidates, other than that they are places where interesting things could happen in the coming years. The link to geography itself is loose, with only occasional references.

In each chapter, the history of an area is deftly laid out, before moving onto current events and future possibilities. Some areas of the world are underrepresented. South America doesn't feature, potentially because it doesn't have any kind of up-and-coming status in the author's view. The final chapter is more innovative and unexpected as it turns our gaze towards space.

The level of analysis is helpful at points, but frustratingly shallow at others. For myself, I particularly noticed this when my home nation of the UK (Scotland specifically) came under the lens. There were quite a few minor inaccuracies, plus discussion of what Scottish independence might mean for the nation didn't get any further than the fairly obvious, where the writer wasn't leaning into misleading assumptions. I'm concerned about what this means for the rest of the book and his discussion of places for which I don't have the same familiarity. What errors and presumption lie there?

Marshall's journalistic background clearly shines through in his approach to his topics, these concerns notwithstanding. It's definitely worth the read and, I would imagine, serves as a helpful starting point to exploring the identity and potential of each place.

The Power of Geography leaned more heavily in to history and politics than what I expected but I stuck with it as I was enjoying other aspects. I liked the format of the different chapters of the Countries and learning about those I was less familiar with. The amount of research to go in to such a book must be vast.
If geopolitics is your thing this is one book you must read!.

This is a successor to one of my favourite non-fiction books of all time, the Prisoners of Geography, which talked about how the facts of how the land is formed affects the politics of various regions. I loved that book, and as a result have been working through the rest of Tim Marshall’s releases.

Fristly, the writing is incredibly accessible. It’s one of the things that drew me in after reading the first book by Marshall. Non-fiction can be dry, or difficult or dense to read but these books have all been a breeze to read and follow. There are also some moments when Marshall inserts his own personal connection to the topic he is writing about and it adds to the reading experience. I do recommend picking the books up physically if you can as the ability to easily flip back and forth to the maps being discussed are essential for me.

The sequel focussed less on the specifics of the geography of each region discussed and looked a lot on the history and politics, but I enjoyed that just as much as the first book. I really liked the final chapter on the future of colonising space and how that may play out.

I can’t wait to pick up more books by Tim Marshall!

This was a very interesting and incredibly well-researched overview of how geography impacts on trade relations, political tensions and access to services, energy and water.

I particularly enjoyed the opening chapter on Australia, and the final chapter on space which was fascinating. There is a lot of political detail and background included, which isn’t really surprising given geography and politics are so closely aligned, but at times I got a bit bogged down in the detail and it took me a while to finish the book. I did however enjoy the informality of the writing style which gave the book a really human feel.

With thanks to NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 24% I didn't care for Tim Marshall's opinions.
I normally do not mind biases/tones etc. etc. but Tim Marshall"s voice is extremely bland in my opinion.

While it may have taken me ages to get to this book, I'm so glad I did. The Power of Geography is a must-read for:
- people whose whole understanding of the world was changed by Marshall's previous book The Prisoners of Geography,
- anyone interested in current events,
- anyone at all.

In this fascinating book, Marshall illuminates ways in which politics are inescapably connected with geography. By taking ten regions as case studies, he explains how political decisions taken by national leaders have everything to do with the limitations and advantages of their land.

I was excited to read that the author took into consideration regions from around the world, including Australia, Saudi Arabia, Spain or the Sahel. Best yet, the last chapter is dedicated to outer space which blew my mind and compelled me to give this book a five-star rating. Fascinating read!

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not what I expected. I enjoy reading about geography and how it influences culture and history. However, this book veered more towards history and politics than geography. The book, however, was interesting, focusing on a handful of countries and space. The focus on politics was off-putting for me.

This would be a valuable reference book if you wanted a concise history of one of the countries discussed.

Thank you very much to netgalley for this advanced copy. Having read and loved Tim Marshall's The Prisoners of Geography last year, I had high expectations for this book. I wasn't disappointed - it was fascinating to be able to delve into the geography (and history, and economics besides!) of lesser known regions (at least to me), including The Sahel, Ethiopia and Turkey, as well as to refresh my history of the UK and learn more about space. I think this book is a must-read for anyone interested in how much influence a place's geography can bring to bear on its diplomatic relations, and for anyone interested in finding out a little bit more about why the world is what it is today. As always, Tim Marshall writes in a way which is both accessible and engaging, and dedicating each chapter to a place allowed me to dip in and out of this book at my own pace.

This was an interesting read, although it did feel a little like the 'geographical' aspect became a little lost in places, and as a personal preference I would have preferred a little more depth in each section - as it felt that the history was a little limited, although that wasn't the focus of the book but enough attention was given to it that it felt as though it could have been more. However, I did like that it looked at countries that are not always brought into consideration, and there was plenty to be learnt amongst these pages and it is one that I think will be interesting to revisit a few years down the line. I found the part on Space and space exploration the most interesting, although part of me wonders at it's inclusion regardless of what role it might play in humanity's future.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, as it usually fails to hold my attention for very long, but I read Prisoners of Geography a year ago and liked it a lot. I was keen therefore to read Marshall's new book, The Power of Geography, and enjoyed it even more. The fact that I read it just after it has been published, while it is still very up to date, probably helped.
Marshall has a writing style that is not dry at all and he does a great job of explaining how geographic facts and historical events have led to the current situation in different parts of the world.
I recommend this book and look forward to the next book in this series - I would love to read chapters about India, the former Yugoslavian countries, Scandinavia, Vietnam...

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free electronic copy in return for an honest review.

Synopsis: If you want to understand what's happening in the world, look at a map. Tim Marshall follows his global bestseller Prisoners of Geography with this sequel looking at 10 regions that are set to shape global politics and power.

What I liked
- This book looks at less commonly covered areas.
- Marshall took into account both the history of the areas as well as current affairs and recent changes in the political climate.
- The focus for this sequel is the future which clearly shows in the chapter about space and space conflicts.

What I didn’t like
- The maps didn't show on kindle so I had to read this on my phone and iPad.
- Marshall set the bar high with his first book and somehow this sequel felt a little less put together.

Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Review on Instagram and Amazon (soon also on Goodreads).
I received a complementary eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for my honest review.