Listen free for 30 days
-
Prisoners of Geography
- Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics
- Narrated by: Ric Jerom
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Politics & Government
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £18.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Power of Geography
- Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World
- By: Tim Marshall
- Narrated by: Tim Marshall
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tim Marshall's global best seller Prisoners of Geography showed how every nation’s choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Since then, the geography hasn’t changed. But the world has. In this revelatory new book, Marshall explores 10 regions that are set to shape global politics in a new age of great-power rivalry: Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Greece, Turkey, the Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain and space.
-
-
Very disappointed
- By Robert S. Johnson on 27-04-21
-
Shadowplay: Behind the Lines and Under Fire
- The Inside Story of Europe's Last War
- By: Tim Marshall
- Narrated by: Tim Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shattering of Yugoslavia in the 1990s showed that, after nearly 50 years of peace, war could return to Europe. It came to its bloody conclusion in Kosovo in 1999. Tim Marshall, then diplomatic editor at Sky News, was on the ground covering the Kosovo War. This is his illuminating account of how events unfolded, a thrilling journalistic memoir drawing on personal experience, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with intelligence officials from five countries.
-
-
Edge of your seat tension with a very human angle
- By DW2000q on 01-12-19
-
Putin’s People
- How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West
- By: Catherine Belton
- Narrated by: Dugald Bruce-Lockhart
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Putin's People, former Moscow correspondent and investigative journalist Catherine Belton tells the untold story of the rise of Vladimir Putin and the small group of KGB men surrounding him. Delving deep into the workings of Putin's Kremlin, Belton accesses key inside players to reveal how Putin replaced the free-wheeling tycoons of the Yeltsin era with a new generation of loyal oligarchs who in turn subverted their country's economy and legal system and expanded its influence in the West.
-
-
Chilling expose of Putin’s People and there control and abuse of Russia
- By Mr M J Wheatland on 16-06-20
-
Brief Answers to the Big Questions
- By: Stephen Hawking, Professor Kip Thorne - foreword
- Narrated by: Ben Whishaw, Garrick Hagon - foreword, Lucy Hawking - afterword
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The final book from Professor Stephen Hawking, the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time and arguably the most famous scientist of our age, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a profound, accessible and timely reflection on the biggest questions in science. Professor Hawking was a brilliant theoretical physicist, an influential author and thinker and a great popular communicator. Throughout his career he was asked questions by business leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, academics and the general public on a broad range of subjects, from the origins of the universe to the future of the planet.
-
-
Science for the masses
- By Paul KENYON on 31-01-19
-
Sapiens
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us. We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us sapiens? In this bold and provocative audiobook, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here, and where we're going.
-
-
Simplistic nonsense
- By RTx on 14-07-19
-
Divided
- Why We're Living in an Age of Walls
- By: Tim Marshall
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New from the number-one Sunday Times best-selling author of Prisoners of Geography. We feel more divided than ever. This riveting analysis tells you why. Walls are going up. Nationalism and identity politics are on the rise once more. Thousands of miles of fences and barriers have been erected in the past 10 years, and they are redefining our political landscape.
-
-
Good book undermined by obtrusive narration
- By Michael Sweeney on 30-01-19
-
The Power of Geography
- Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World
- By: Tim Marshall
- Narrated by: Tim Marshall
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tim Marshall's global best seller Prisoners of Geography showed how every nation’s choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Since then, the geography hasn’t changed. But the world has. In this revelatory new book, Marshall explores 10 regions that are set to shape global politics in a new age of great-power rivalry: Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Greece, Turkey, the Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain and space.
-
-
Very disappointed
- By Robert S. Johnson on 27-04-21
-
Shadowplay: Behind the Lines and Under Fire
- The Inside Story of Europe's Last War
- By: Tim Marshall
- Narrated by: Tim Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shattering of Yugoslavia in the 1990s showed that, after nearly 50 years of peace, war could return to Europe. It came to its bloody conclusion in Kosovo in 1999. Tim Marshall, then diplomatic editor at Sky News, was on the ground covering the Kosovo War. This is his illuminating account of how events unfolded, a thrilling journalistic memoir drawing on personal experience, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with intelligence officials from five countries.
-
-
Edge of your seat tension with a very human angle
- By DW2000q on 01-12-19
-
Putin’s People
- How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West
- By: Catherine Belton
- Narrated by: Dugald Bruce-Lockhart
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Putin's People, former Moscow correspondent and investigative journalist Catherine Belton tells the untold story of the rise of Vladimir Putin and the small group of KGB men surrounding him. Delving deep into the workings of Putin's Kremlin, Belton accesses key inside players to reveal how Putin replaced the free-wheeling tycoons of the Yeltsin era with a new generation of loyal oligarchs who in turn subverted their country's economy and legal system and expanded its influence in the West.
-
-
Chilling expose of Putin’s People and there control and abuse of Russia
- By Mr M J Wheatland on 16-06-20
-
Brief Answers to the Big Questions
- By: Stephen Hawking, Professor Kip Thorne - foreword
- Narrated by: Ben Whishaw, Garrick Hagon - foreword, Lucy Hawking - afterword
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The final book from Professor Stephen Hawking, the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time and arguably the most famous scientist of our age, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a profound, accessible and timely reflection on the biggest questions in science. Professor Hawking was a brilliant theoretical physicist, an influential author and thinker and a great popular communicator. Throughout his career he was asked questions by business leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, academics and the general public on a broad range of subjects, from the origins of the universe to the future of the planet.
-
-
Science for the masses
- By Paul KENYON on 31-01-19
-
Sapiens
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us. We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us sapiens? In this bold and provocative audiobook, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here, and where we're going.
-
-
Simplistic nonsense
- By RTx on 14-07-19
-
Divided
- Why We're Living in an Age of Walls
- By: Tim Marshall
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New from the number-one Sunday Times best-selling author of Prisoners of Geography. We feel more divided than ever. This riveting analysis tells you why. Walls are going up. Nationalism and identity politics are on the rise once more. Thousands of miles of fences and barriers have been erected in the past 10 years, and they are redefining our political landscape.
-
-
Good book undermined by obtrusive narration
- By Michael Sweeney on 30-01-19
-
Worth Dying For
- The Power and Politics of Flags
- By: Tim Marshall
- Narrated by: Ric Jerom
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you see your nation's flag fluttering in the breeze, what do you feel? For thousands of years flags have represented our hopes and dreams. We wave them. Burn them. March under their colours. And still, in the 21st century, we die for them. Flags fly at the UN, on the Arab street, from front porches in Texas. They represent the politics of high power as well as the politics of the mob.
-
-
meh!
- By mr r d eggels on 18-05-18
-
The War on the West
- How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The War on the West, international best-selling author Douglas Murray asks: if the history of humankind is a history of slavery, conquest, prejudice, genocide and exploitation, why are only Western nations taking the blame for it? It’s become, he explains, perfectly acceptable to celebrate the contributions of non-Western cultures, but discussing their flaws and crimes is called hate speech. What’s more it has become acceptable to discuss the flaws and crimes of Western culture, but celebrating their contributions is also called hate speech.
-
-
In the land of the blind …
- By theantlion on 01-05-22
-
Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- By: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
-
-
The definitive Audible purchase
- By Jim on 22-01-14
-
Quirkology
- The Curious Science of Everyday Lives
- By: Richard Wiseman
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over 20 years, psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman has examined the quirky science of everyday life. In Quirkology, he navigates the backwaters of human behavior, discovering the telltale signs that give away a liar, the secret science behind speed dating and personal ads, and what a person's sense of humour reveals about the innermost workings of their mind - all along paying tribute to others who have carried out similarly weird and wonderful work.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Laura Y. on 10-05-16
-
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
- By: Dr Julie Smith
- Narrated by: Dr Julie Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on years of experience as a clinical psychologist, online sensation Dr Julie Smith shares all the skills you need to get through life's ups and downs. Filled with secrets from a therapist's toolkit, this is a must-have handbook for optimising your mental health. Dr Julie's simple but expert advice and powerful coping techniques will help you stay resilient no matter what life throws your way.
-
-
PDF
- By Amazon Customer on 13-01-22
-
Kleptopia
- How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World
- By: Tom Burgis
- Narrated by: Tom Burgis
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They are everywhere, the thieves and their people. Masters of secrecy. Until now we have detected their presence only by what they leave behind. A body in a burned-out Audi. Workers riddled with bullets in the Kazakh desert. A rigged election in Zimbabwe. A British banker silenced and humiliated for trying to expose the truth about the City of London. They have amassed more money than most countries. But what they are really stealing is power.
-
-
Genuinely Fascinating
- By Ellie on 08-02-21
-
A History of the World
- By: Andrew Marr
- Narrated by: Andrew Marr, David Timson
- Length: 26 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the earliest civilizations to the 21st century: a global journey through human history, published alongside a landmark BBC One television series. Our understanding of world history is changing, as new discoveries are made on all the continents and old prejudices are being challenged. In this truly global journey, Andrew Marr revisits some of the traditional epic stories, from classical Greece and Rome to the rise of Napoleon, but surrounds them with less familiar material, from Peru to the Ukraine, China to the Caribbean.
-
-
Awsome, educational and epic work
- By Adisha on 30-10-12
-
The Silk Roads
- A New History of the World
- By: Peter Frankopan
- Narrated by: Laurence Kennedy
- Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The sun is setting on the Western world. Slowly but surely, the direction in which the world spins has reversed: where for the last five centuries the globe turned westward on its axis, it now turns to the east.... For centuries, fame and fortune were to be found in the West - in the New World of the Americas. Today it is the East that calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from Eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia, deep into China and India, is taking center stage.
-
-
Worthwhile book, annoying narration
- By DVee on 28-10-18
-
Freezing Order
- A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. One of the first steps of that mission was to uncover who had killed Sergei and profited from the $230 million corruption scheme that he had exposed. As Browder and his team tracked the money that flowed out of Russia—through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas—they discovered that Vladimir Putin himself was one of the beneficiaries of the crime.
-
-
An incredible story which we should all read!
- By MIT OrrabaN on 18-05-22
-
Red Notice
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
November 2009. Sergei Magnitsky is led to an isolation cell in a Moscow prison and beaten to death by eight police officers. His crime? To testify against the Russian Interior Ministry officials involved in a conspiracy to steal $230 million in taxes. Magnitsky’s brutal killing has remained uninvestigated to this day. Red Notice is a searing exposé of the Russian authorities responsible for the murder, slicing deep into the heart of the Kremlin to uncover its sordid truths.
-
-
Bare with it and it will provide.
- By Plamen on 08-01-19
-
Atomic Habits
- An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones
- By: James Clear
- Narrated by: James Clear
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revolutionary system to get one per cent better every day. People think when you want to change your life, you need to think big. But world-renowned habits expert James Clear has discovered another way. He knows that real change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions – doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes early, or holding a single short phone call. He calls them atomic habits.
-
-
Sorry - I couldn't finish it
- By Mustafa Korel on 02-01-20
-
The Secret Barrister
- By: The Secret Barrister
- Narrated by: Jack Hawkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the world of the Secret Barrister. These are the stories of life inside the courtroom. They are sometimes funny, often moving and ultimately life-changing. How can you defend a child abuser you suspect to be guilty? What do you say to someone sentenced to ten years whom you believe to be innocent? What is the law, and why do we need it? And why do they wear those stupid wigs?
-
-
A superb dissection of the English legal system
- By Kirstine on 06-06-18
Summary
All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture.
If you've ever wondered why Putin is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was destined to become a global superpower or why China's power base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here. In 10 chapters (covering Russia, China, the USA, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, India and Pakistan, Europe, Japan and Korea, and the Arctic), using essays and occasionally the personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential insight into one of the major factors that determines world history. It's time to put the 'geo' back into geopolitics.
More from the same
What listeners say about Prisoners of Geography
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kirstine
- 12-02-18
An interesting and thought-provoking approach
I had wondered if a book based on maps might be unsuitable as an audio book, however, the author guides one to imagine the geography being described. I had realized that some events in history were shaped by geography, but not how all pervasive the influence of mountains, rivers, deserts and seas are on history as well as the legacy of colonialism creating artificial countries without regard to topography, racial groups and religious differences. When it’s pointed out it seems obvious.
I enjoyed the book but was left feeling down-hearted about the future of the planet owing to over-population and climate change combining with the geography of the countries that will be most affected. There certainly seems to be potential for yet more conflicts between countries competing over diminishing resources and vying for influence in the world.
The narrator is excellent.
70 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anon
- 02-03-19
good generally, but very euro-centric
Found the overall idea of general geopolitics as a way to explain the world writ large quite refreshing.
My biggest complaint is the lazy coverage of Africa, especially SSA, and the euro-centric assumptions of what technological advancement is, as well as what ails the continent of the African people - very clearly only the bare amount of research about diseases and tribal fragmentation was conducted, and yet a lot more research went into countries like China and the USA. For example, little attention was given to how the ex colonial masters continue to deliberately wreak havoc in Africa so they can take advantage of its large amount of raw precious minerals and other materials, and the problem was rather a surface level "black African politicians are bad" sticker.
It should be recognised that Western revisionist colonial history is not consistent with actual African history, and that there was a deep and rich cultural and technological history pre and post colonialism. The deep and disturbing nature of Western slaughter, pillaging, raping and conquering/enslavement of half the planet should not be simply glossed over as a price of war - this should be recognised as the unremorseful, disgusting series of acts that it was, geopolitics or not.
I would also advise that the final chapter (6, I believe) of the Middle East and South America and a few other areas, be separated out into a few different ~1 hour chapters in this audiobook so it is consistent with the rest of the book, rather than a solid 5 hour chapter.
Didn't seem to get much information about the geopolitical nature of nations like Australia or Canada as well.
67 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Unique Pseudonym
- 25-07-17
Step back and look at politics through a new lens
I have a feeling this will be a book I listen to again at least once. It offers physical geography as a lens through which to understand many aspects of both historical and modern world affairs and makes a pretty convincing case. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Russia and China which offered far more balanced stories than I often read.
75 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 23-10-19
A book about maps with no maps
This was a fantastic book to read, however, it was at times difficult to follow the train of thought as the maps are not provided in the audiobook :(
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stop the lights
- 02-06-17
good recap on what most of us already know.
Some good facts and figures thrown in too.
The narrator keeps things moving along nicely.
Not too sure about the Russian accent though. . . .
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeremija
- 20-04-21
Prisoners of Imperialism
Autor providing a shallow insight into global geopolitics seen through the British lens combined by the smug tone of the narrator unable to pronounce correctly even the most important names and places made me feel like listening to 19th century British nobleman with monocle sitting in his comfortable armchair judging inferior peoples. As if the book was not narrated, but rather talked down to a listener.
As a geographer, I was really excited about the topic and I indeed found some interesting insights, but the more I knew about a particular subject, the more I saw that the writer has a lack of understanding, making me skeptical about other information learned from the book. It's hard to see this book as a scientific work, but rather as an opinion, even though it is written and narrated in a matter-of-factly manner. Being so confident about understanding complex geopolitics on a global scale can be a sign of lack of understanding, but oversimplification is also a great tool for promoting ideology. Author is invoking history only in the cases where it fits his case, missing to point on a number of important events, and always putting Britain in the light of "benevolent" colonial power and superior chessmaster of the geopolitical playground. Where mistakes of other nations and leaders are part of their inherited mentalities, British mistakes are accidents.
As much as current geopolitics is a result of geography, it is even more a result of hard-line and outdated thinking of old political elites that sees themselves as superior guards of old ways and finds war and oppression as the only resolution to any conflict.
All that, combined with the narration and mispronunciation of even most important terms and places (pictured well in the chapter where writer makes fun of Argentinians using their name for Falkland Islands, while narrator pronounces Buenos Eires as their capital, but also Al KEida, NEgasaki and much more) made me pause my runs on several occasions to take notes, and at the end, write this review.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- practicalshopper
- 20-10-17
interesting
interesting take on global politics. Great for someone like myself who have buried their heads in the sand and ignored politics for several years
39 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 15-07-17
Very informative
Interesting and well read. It is also updated to current times. Sometimes a little too much detail but overall worth listening to.
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mr Martin U Jones
- 08-04-17
Just enthralling, beginning to end!
I listened to the whole thing in a 48 hour time frame. It was fascinating!
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- cmj123
- 15-08-17
Deeply fascinating and enlightening
This book opened my mind to a totally new description of the world, her geography and her politics. It challenged my current perception of humanity, power and resources. The narration of the book was excellent. Love to read more on geopolitics.
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- lia manesi, corfu, greece
- 25-10-17
Brilliant insight and narration
One of the most enjoyable audible narrators.
The book is both a good and easy read. It links well known global historical facts to world geography that explain world politics of today. I highly recommend for readers who are not majorly involved in politics, but would like to start understanding them.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- VChungu
- 08-05-19
Disappointed
I read the chapters on Russia and China with earnest and thought wow! I've learn quite a few things here. Then I skipped to the chapter on Africa and immediately changed my view. Like sooo many other writers on Africa, the continent is described with one overriding narrative: a war torn, conflict stricken land. Africa is AND the about the civil war in the DRC and previous fighting in Angola, Rwanda and Burundi. There is more to African economies than South Africa. For me, the limited scope in the one chapter on Africa was a strong indication of the flawed views the writer took in all the other chapters, so I stopped listening after that. Disappointed.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 25-02-22
No PDF maps
Great book and well narrated. But I simply can’t understand how audible would not include the maps from the hard copy as an accompanying pdf. This is one book that absolutely needs a pdf to go with it.
Audible please fix this.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ekele Onuh Oscar
- 22-01-20
Why Nations Act The Way They Do
Tim Marshal is the Tim Lahaye of Geopolitics.
I enjoyed listening to his takes and also find it quite helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 14-10-19
Amazing Book
This book has made me more keen on today's geopolitics. So damn interesting. Well done.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Bennett Faurie
- 19-10-18
Great narrating
Ric Jerome placed much enthasis on the correct local pronunciation of all the different locations.