Geography Is Destiny: Britain and the World, a 10,000 Year History Hardcover – 12 May 2022

A thoroughly riveting and informative read. Having recently read his “Why the West Rules - for Now” I was keen to learn more and I loved the style of the author’s writing so excitedly got stuck into this too. I wasn’t disappointed, a great read and highly recommended by me.

I bought this because it was on somebody's "Best books of 2022" list - The New Yorker maybe - and it sounded interesting. It's mostly well written, and an easy read. I am not much of a history buff, and much prefer so-called modern history to the older, boring (to me) stuff, meaning I probably could have skipped the first 301 pages or so (but didn't). This book uses the word counterscarp on almost every page, which soon becomes tiresome and annoying. I mean, who else uses that word? I even had to check the OED to verify its meaning, which has something to do with the outer wall of a moat. I am not sure I really learned much by reading this book either, and you could pretty much sum it all up in a lot less then 400 pages. Basically the French, Scots, Welsh, and Irish all hate the English, and for good reason. And while everyone was consumed by the recent Brexit nonsense, they should really have been more concerned about the UK's relationship with China than how it can exist somewhat outside the EU. It all comes down to maps apparently.