The book is well-written and the subject interesting, but the "lay of the land" is somewhat out of date now, almost 10 years after publication.

However, a lot of the author's observations and even predictions held up reasonably well.

The maps could have been better IMO, but that's true of every geography book I read. ( )

This book should be a must read for all global citizens. Learning about geography is important ... but learning about the historical, political, and economic impact (and decisions) that geography had on nations is entertaining AND informative. Each chapter focuses on a different part of the world to keep your attention and the information relevant. The author is very scientific in his writing which should make this readable by all. ( )

Interesting to learn about how physical position influences foreign policy choices. Great information for anyone interested, but difficult to get through. ( )

An interesting overview of the world and its geography. Written in 2015 and already feeling a little dated. Also almost ignores global warming. ( )

(2.5, rounded up to 3)
This was supposed to be a primer on maps and geography first, and how it relates to history later. What should have been a compelling read is reduced to short paragraphs of text which look like they have been lifted straight from Wikipedia, which is not a compliment.

Two glaring flaws jump at you once you finish this book. The first being that Marshall's treatment is superficial at best and unconvincing at worst - I sometimes felt that even the author wasn't convinced that rivers and mountains have influenced history to the extent that he describes. Secondly, Marshall is an unabashed neoliberal - his beliefs are that Latin America is in dire straits because they had socialism, colonialism happened and we should all get over it, and trust for American hegemony is very much implicit within the text.

All in all, the book is a decent introductory read if you are a novice on geopolitics, but if one is already aware of what is going on in the world and wanted to know the ground reality, as I did, then this book is not a good starting point. There are some good things to be said about the book but the consistently glossing over details and the pretending that Australia doesn't exist does it no favours.

The final chapter, where Marshall states that humanity is so divided that we cannot contemplate travelling the universe as representatives of mankind but will still think of ourselves as Indians, Americans, Russians or Chinese – is a sobering one. This is the only place where he made me believe in the prisoners of geography argument – and better late than never, I suppose. ( )