Prisoners of Geography - The Quiz Book - Tim Marshall
When I was a child, I loved pouring over atlases. I can see my favourite, A3 size with a blue cover that I'd bought in a local department store. I’d open it out on the floor and memorise towns and cities, rivers and mountains. Even better at the back were layouts of capital cities. In school quizzes, when geography came up, I was your man. I still love the capital cities rounds on ‘Pointless’.
Geopolitics and Current Affairs
Combine that with my interest in geopolitics and current affairs, and books by Tim Marshall are like catnip to me. ‘Prisoners of Geography’ was a favourite from a few years back, whilst the follow up ‘Power of Geography’ was equally engaging and accessible. I also have ‘The future of geography’ in my TBR pile.
So obviously I’m going to be a sucker for ‘Prisoners of Geography - The quiz book’. With over 300 questions, puzzles, word games and maps, it would surely test my knowledge of what I'd read, as well as learning something along the way.
The book is divided into two parts - the first part has questions on nine areas; North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, The Middle East, Latin America, Oceania, The Poles and Space. The second part contains the answers, often surprising and informative. Here’s a couple to give you a taste, with answers at the end.
Which two African countries were never colonised by a European Nation?
Can you name the three most commonly spoken languages in Latin America, in order of the greatest to the least amount of speakers?
What is the name of Europes only desert, and in which country is it found?
How many times zones are there at the North Pole - 1 or 24?
Summary
I found myself constantly surprised as I read this, and now no longer consider myself knowledgeable on geography. Many of the answers sent me off on a deeper dive into wikipedia and of course, maps, thanks to google. Though I do love going back and forth to the maps in the previous Tim Marshall books listed above, and I enjoyed the visual questions about counties.
Like I say, there’s plenty of variety in the questions and formats, it’s fun and educational and would make a great gift, especially if there’s someone in your home pouring over an atlas or with an interest in geopolitics.
Thank you to Elliott and Thompson for the Advanced Copy.
Out on 10th of October 2024 in the UK and 5th of November in the US.
Answers
Ethiopia and Liberia (Ethiopia was invaded and occupied by Italian forces, it was never colonised).
Spanish (400 million) Portugese (210 Million) Quechua (7 million)
The Tabernas Desert natural beauty spot, in Spain.
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