Geography Is Destiny: Britain and the World: A 10,000-Year History

Morris has written an engaging long-term history of what we call the United Kingdom and its place in the world.

He says he did that because he had to tell all the old stories so that we could understand the story of Brexit. The recent referendum and follow-on departure certainly echo earlier instances of insularity in the British isles, but I'm not really convinced you need to read the whole thing to understand the current chaos.

The next-to-last chapter, Keep Calm and Carry On (1992-2013), is an engaging read just on the events that led directly to the referendum that forced the UK to Leave. It's good on its own. The very short chapter that follows it, Can't Go Home Again (2017), where Morris returns to his hometown of Stoke on Trent and show more hangs out with regular folks, is likewise thought-provoking.

But the professional historian and Stanford professor does a good job with the big topic. I'd read his earlier book, Why the West Rules -- For Now, some years ago, and very much enjoyed it. This one is better, I think. Both make the point that China is already a global force, and that this century will see a remaking of the world order to accommodate that country.

I hope that Morris will write about that, too, in the next decade or so. show less

2023 Book #17. 2022. The history of Britain as told in relation to its geographical place in the world. An interesting perspective told in an engaging way. If you're a history buff, I highly recommend it. At nearly 500 pages, it never drags.

Review excerpt from a longer article:

Time Take-aways for Life-Long Learners: Geography Connections

From forgotten and imagined places to powerful political relationships, connect geography with topics across the curriculum through these recently published books.

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Geography is Destiny: Britain and the World
Ian Morris, 2022, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan
Themes: History, Britain, Europe, Historical geography

Readers explore the 10,000 year relationship between the British Isles and the European continent along with the entire globe.
Take-aways: Use Britain as an example of the connection among geography, politics, economics, and history.

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Whether helping educators keep up-to-date in their subject-areas, promoting show more student reading in the content-areas, or simply encouraging nonfiction leisure reading, teacher librarians need to be aware of the best new titles across the curriculum and how to activate life-long learning. - Annette Lamb show less