Samson, Maxim – The Bell Bookshop

Earth Shapers

Emma — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

‘A riposte to the idea that geography is destiny’ FINANCIAL TIMES’Samson demonstrates how we are not always prisoners of geography but, increasingly, its masters’ LEWIS DARTNELL’This is a book that reshapes our story of global human geography’ DANNY DORLING’Accessible and erudite, this is an original look at the geography of connection’ LEWIS BASTONMountains, meridians, rivers and borders; these are some of the features that carve up the world on our maps and in our minds. But geography is far less set in stone than we might believe and, over time, we have become experts at reshaping our surroundings.From the Qhapaq Ãan, South America’s ‘Great Road’, and the Panama Canal to Mozambique’s railways and Korea’s sacred Baekdu-daegan mountain range, Samson explores how we mould the world around us. And how, as we etch our needs onto the natural landscape, we alter the course of history.An immense work of cultural geography touching on ecology, sociology, history and politics, Earth Shapers argues that, far from being constrained by geography, we are instead its creators.

Invisible Lines

Emma — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

‘A triumph, a volume of great good sense and imagination which brims with fascinations’ SPECTATOR’A truly original adventure into new ways of exploring what we mean by a sense of place’ SIMON JENKINS’Shows the unexpected side-effects of human-drawn borders’ FINANCIAL TIMES ‘A wise and thought-provoking series of raids across borders we thought we knew’ IAIN SINCLAIROur world has innumerable boundaries, ranging from the obvious – like oceans and mountain ranges – to the intangible – like subtle differences in language or climate. Most of us cross invisible lines all the time, but rarely do we stop to consider them. Invisible Lines presents 30 such unseen boundaries, intriguing and unexpected examples of the myriad ways in which we collectively engage with and experience the world. From football fans in Buenos Aires to air quality in China, Paris’ banlieues to sub-Saharan Africa’s Malaria Belt, the invisible boundaries that shape our experiences and existence provide a compelling guide to seeing and understanding our world anew.