Is geography really destiny? Our maps may no longer be stalked by dragons and monsters but
our perceptions of the world are still shaped by geographic myths. Myths like Europe being the
centre of the world. Or that border walls are the solution to migration. Or that Russia is
predestined to threaten its neighbours. In his punchy and authoritative new book Paul
Richardson challenges recent popular accounts of geographical determinism and shows that how we
see the world represented often isn't how it really is - that the map is not the territory.
Along the way we visit some remarkable places: Iceland's Thingvellir National Park where you
can swim between two continents Bir Tawil in North Africa one of the world's only territories
not claimed by any country and we follow the first train that ran across Eurasia between Yiwu
in east China and Barking in east London. Written with verve and full of quotable facts Myths
of Geography is a book that will turn your world upside down.
