The Myths of Geography investigates a number of commonly held beliefs about geography, maps and how we understand our world and the people in it. Exactly how do you identify the various continents and their boarders? Does a wall keep people out, or does it create a hot spot for trading and culture? While some of the sections felt dense and took a while to work through, I found myself recounting the details of each section to friends as I read. Overall, this was an interesting read! Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

An ok book. I found some of it to be interesting but felt it didn't go into enough detail to as interesting as it could have been.

A unique look at how what we record on maps influences how we view ourselves and others. The first few chapters dealing directly with geographic myths were the strongest and provided some nuanced insights into the lies we are led to believe when we fail to question the origins of our Western-centric geographic representation of the Earth. Later chapters on economic and social concerns did not seem to fit in but were interesting and current nonetheless. The book feels like it should be more developed and some of the later chapters feel half-done. Overall I would read more titles by this author

I was pleased to receive an ARC for Myths of Geography by Paul Richardson

Growing up in the United States, I recently realized my knowledge of geography was rather pitiful and decided I needed to do some reading on the topic, so I dove nose-first into this volume without much previous information about the author.

This book examines the way we currently experience the world and criticizes and highlights a list of myths that the author states are the underpinnings of how we have pretty much always interacted with the world. The myths examined are those of: continents, borders, nations, sovereignty, measuring growth, Russian expansionism, China’s New Silk Road, and finally the myth that Africa is doomed to fail.

I liked the aim of this book which is to highlight these erroneous ways we view our countries, leaders, and the messy state of current affairs across the globe. As a complete layperson to this topic, I have to say my eyes glazed over on the chapter on Russian Expansionism and the protracted discussions on GDP; however, I do not regret reading this book because it had so much great trivia that I didn’t know about random parts of the world. I most of all enjoyed how it challenged us to remember that the way we all perceive the world today is something that is constantly in flux; there are a lot of points in the book that call attention to the reality that so many “facts” about the world are being manipulated by military powers for the gain of their nations.

Of particular interest to me was the chapter on Africa and how it’s colonial history continues to shape its fate. It was really triggering reading this chapter as someone from a country that was previously ravaged by colonial meddling by both the British and Italians and continues to have foreign influences dictating its fate. Honestly, it was just painful to read about the brutality and DELIBERATE design of imperialism on the entirety of Africa. Common examples of this remain how the entire continent is simplified and diminished and spoken of as a single country; the history of colonization is being obscured in schools or just left out altogether; and most egregious of all to read about were the instances in which current leaders have tried to push the view of how positive the empire was towards its subjects and even teaching school kids of these benefits of colonization.

Overall, I’m glad I read it and am excited to continue patching up my knowledge of geography.

“Myths of Geography, Eight Ways We Get the World Wrong” by Paul Richardson is the latest in a string of geography-focused books that try to explain today’s world based on geographical history, and what geography can teach us about the future. Mr. Richardson specifically focuses on eight myths which most people believe, which shape our policies and ways we interact with each other:

The Myth of the Continents: How many continents are there? Are Europe and Asia really two separate continents (no)? What about North and South America? And what defines a continent?

The Myth of the Border: This section focuses on how we have tried to build walls throughout history, and how border walls have always failed. A nice lesson for us in the USA.

The Myth of the Nation: How do we define nations, countries, us and them? And will we always feel this way, especially in the digital age?

The Myth of Sovereignty: With the globalization of world economies, is any nation nowadays completely sovereign? Is England better off after Brexit?

The Myth of Measuring Growth: Why do we care so much about GDP? Are there better measures? What about the harm we do to the environment chasing GDP?

The Myth of Russian Expansionism: What are the goals of Putin and his view of Russia’ place in Eurasia and the world?

The Myth of China’s New Silk Road: Is there more behind China’s expansion other than world domination? How does the slowdown of China’s internal growth affect their plans for the world?

The Myth that Africa is Doomed to Fail: Can Africa overcome all of the history and destruction wrought by slavery and colonialism to emerge as an equal partner among nations?

These are all interesting myths and Mr. Richardson does a great job explaining the concepts along with many interesting facts and trivia. The main shortcoming, however, is that we never come to any conclusions, never answer the question ”so what?”, or explore why does this really matter.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

The illustrations/maps included in this book were interesting, but overall I struggled to get into this book and it definitely went a lot further in some places than a layperson like myself might understand. Not a bad read, but definitely not geared towards the every day person - especially as you get further into the book. 2.5/5

Well, I like myths and geography, so this seemed like an interesting read. And it was, however ...

That's exactly what the author does throughout the entire book. In fact, however must be his favorite word, as he does his best to tear apart one well-known supposition after another. This is done with mixed success, despite obviously well-researched and cleverly presented arguments, because A. oppressively didactic, unengaging tone and B. what is the point being made here?

Yes, our world as seen on geopolitical maps is an artificial creation, and yes, the author quotes John Lennon's famous peace anthem "Imagine" and calls himself a dreamer, but what exactly is an alternative?
And just because a civilization lived without something for a long time, doesn't mean it can, wants, or should go back to that. Even if those things are artificial concepts. There are entirely too many examples of that, starting with the technology currently used to share this review.
Mind you, this doesn't mean I disagree with the points made in this book. I read the news - the world is obviously falling apart. But how can the data and arguments of this book be used to realistically improve things? While very good at facts, the book seems to ignore the basic presets of a modern society and people in it - on which my personal view is rather misanthropic (and fully supported by current events).
The best this book seems to offer, in practical terms, is a different perspective. An interesting read, overall, though when it comes to geography, I think I'll stick with Tim Marshall, who is a far superior writer. (The author actually argues one of his points from one of his books here, which was, again, very interesting.) Overall, things were learned, thoughts were had. As far as nonfiction reads go, that's a good return for the time invested. Thanks Netgalley.

A unique look at how what we record on maps influences how we view ourselves and others. The first few chapters dealing directly with geographic myths were the strongest and provided some nuanced insights into the lies we are led to believe when we fail to question the origins of our Western-centric geographic representation of the Earth. Later chapters on economic and social concerns did not seem to fit in but were interesting and current nonetheless. The book feels like it should be more developed and some of the later chapters feel half-done. Overall I would read more titles by this author.

This book started out really strong with a fascinating chapter on continents and what defines them (or doesn't). I also found its chapters on walls, nationhood, and sovereignty to be fairly interesting. However, the book becomes somewhat less accessible in later chapters. Some of the "myths" that the author exposes are not concepts that are well-known to the general public, such as the New Silk Road, or Russia's reputed interest in warm-water ports. It's a bit hard to feel invested in the deeper story when one never even knew the surface-level story. Therefore, I would say the target audience for this book is split between the layperson and the current affairs expert... not exactly a natural mix.