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Following the Ukraine thread, it's obvious to me that I have some major gaps in my knowledge of the geo-political world.
So, can anyone recommend some good reading?
Ideally, covering back to pre-biblical times for a bit on context. I've obviously aware of the Pharaoh's, the Roman Empire, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and the British/French/Dutch/Spanish empires, but I'm rubbish on details or timelines.
Preferably sometime with some nice maps and covering the less obvious places. I know very little about the Far East/South Asia for instance.
It doesn't need to be overly detailed and I'm definitely not looking for something deeply academic.
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall is the book you're looking for.
Yes, two books by Tim Marshall.
Prisoners of Geography
The Power of Geography
Covers geo-political situations, how countries developed in the way they did (mountains, rivers etc blocking or aiding trade), the countries that border them, leadership within those countries, alliances formed, languages spoken and so on.
Fascinating reading.
You can often pick them up in Smith's or Waterstones on Buy 1, Get 1 Half Price deals.
Edit: @TheFlyingOx ... great minds... 😉
Perhaps not directly fitting your specs but I found The Prize a fascinating read. It tells a ~150 year history of the oil industry which is very strongly intertwined with global geopolitics. Quite a tome!
The Cyprus Conspiracy
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyprus-Conspiracy-America-Espionage-Invasion-ebook/dp/B07P718GDK
The Prize is eye opening. The arrogance shown in the past really has come back to haunt us.
The Tim Marshall books are very good indeed. There is a line early on in Prisoners of Geography that correctly predicts the current Ukraine war.
Does it have to be a a book? Have a listen to 'The Invention of [insert country name]' podcasts on the BBC, I've learnt a a few things from those
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall is the book you’re looking for.
Great book.
+1 for Tim Marshall
Dark Money by Jane Mayer provides a lot of clarity to what’s been in global politics right now and how we got to the domination of far right neoliberalism!
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall is the book you’re looking for.
It's good but some of it is ludicrously simplistic.
Europe by Norman Davies is excellent if rather weighty (literally)
It’s good but some of it is ludicrously simplistic.
True but there's only so much you can fit into 250odd pages!
And it helps keep it very readable too.
It's still a good starting point tho - you can always kick on from there if you want more in-depth stuff.
It’s good but some of it is ludicrously simplistic.
That's exactly what I wanted! Seems very appropriate... here's the first paragraph of the intro...
Thanks for the recommendations...