His exploration of the importance of Tibet and the Himalayas as both a centre of water resources and the very literal strategic high ground for South Asia will be familiar to readers of Eric S Margolis’ excellent “ War at the Top of the World“, and shines a fresh light on to the importance of the perilous glacial battlefields of Siachen that are often dismissed as pointless pursuits of national prestige.įrom how Russia’s inherent geographical vulnerabilities shape its perceivedly aggressive stance towards NATO’s eastward expansion, through to how vast mountain ranges are keeping the world’s two most populous neighbours from conflict (for now), Marshall explores the impact geography has on nations. Having served as a reporter on the battlefields of Afghanistan, Iraq, the Arab Spring and the Balkans (among others), Marshall demonstrates his clear understanding of the impact geography plays on war, and by extension diplomacy and destiny. The better part of the book’s lasting accuracy is linked to its core focus: the largely unchanging geography shaping global geopolitics. Released in 2015, Prisoners of Geography remains outstandingly current thanks in part to a number of insightful, yet careful predictions on then-near-future developments. As a follow-on from our 2018 Geopolitical Reading List, in this piece we review Tim Marshall’s “ Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World“ an excellent read for novice and experienced geopolitical analysts alike that explores the impact of geography on nation-states.Īs a veteran, front-line journalist, Tim Marshall is extremely well placed to narrate the core concepts of geopolitics in a way that keeps the subject accessible and interesting while simultaneously avoiding the dangerous oversimplifications often found in much entry-level reading on the topic.

Prisoners of geography review