Geographical Worlds

This is the first in a five book series offering a comprehensive, broad-based course in human geography. Geographical Worlds sets out what it means to think geographically in a world that is changing in ways that bring to the fore questions of space, place and nature. Starting with thevariety of ways in which we represent the world - through maps, travel brochures or novels for example - the book draws attention to the disputed nature of geographical knowledge. It demonstrates how our understanding of the world reflects the unequal balance of power in society. The contributors goon to show how geographical thinking enables us to grasp the 'local' and the 'global', and the connections between the two. Cntral here is the fact that in this much-vaunted age of globalization, inequality is built into the very way that such connections are drawn. As a short introduction to thebuilding blocks of geographical thinking, this book will be essential reading for students in human geography. This is the introductory volume of a five-book series which offers a comprehensive, broad-based course in human geography. The building blocks of a 'geographical imagination' are presentedthrough some of the principal forces that are shaping the world as it approaches the twenty-first century. Each book develops different aspects of the geographical imagination, using a mixture of text and readings. The issues that are explored are at the forefront of global and economic change.In tracing the impact of shifts in cultural and political geography, they are used to teach what it is to think geographically.

Now a new series on Peacock with Rainn Wilson, THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS is part travel memoir, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide that takes the viewer across the globe to investigate not what happiness is, but WHERE it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Qatar, awash in petrodollars, find joy in all that cash? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? In a unique mix of travel, psychology, science and humor, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions.

'All Possible Worlds' provides a history of geographical thought, covering both classical & modern periods.

This is the first text in the five-volume Shape of the World Series which offers a comprehensive, broad-based course in human geography. The text shows how geographical thinking enables us to grasp the connection between the local and global world. It begins with the idea that the way in whichwe see the world is a matter of interpretation: it depends upon who you are - a third World peasant or a resident of Los Angeles. This approach is developed by showing how different places are constructed through a web of economic, political, and social connections that shape and reshapethem.

A key concern in the debate and empirical research on the geography of regions is the evolution of the conceptualizations and practical uses of the idea of ‘region’. This idea prioritises both the intellectual and the practical development of regional studies. This book drives the discussion further. It stresses the complex forms of agency/advocacy involved in the production and reproduction of regional spaces and space of regionalism as well as the importance of geohistory and context. The book moves beyond the territorial/relational divide that has characterized debates on regions and regional borders since the 1990s. The contributors answer key questions from different conceptual and concrete-contextual angles and to motivate readers to reflect on the perpetual significance of regional concepts and how they are mobilized by various actors to maintain or transform the contested spatialities of societal power relations. This book was based on a special issue of Regional Studies.

A read-aloud introduction to geography for young children that, when opened and folded back, creates a freestanding globe Children are invited to identify and experience the Earth's amazing geography through rhyming verse and lush illustrations: from rivers, lakes, and oceans deep, to valleys, hills, and mountains steep. Secondary text offers more detailed, curriculum-focused facts and encourages readers to consider their own living environments, making the reading experience personal yet set within a global backdrop. This informative homage to Earth is sure to inspire readers to learn more about their planet – and to engage with the world around them. Ages 2–5

This book examines the scholarly genre of 'geographia sacra' in early modern Europe, tracing its contours, the outlooks and concerns of its practitioners, as well as the intersections of religion and geography in an age that saw dramatic revolutions in both fields.

The past decade has witnessed a remarkable resurgence in the intellectual interplay between geography and the humanities in both academic and public circles. The metaphors and concepts of geography now permeate literature, philosophy and the arts. Concepts such as space, place, landscape, mapping and territory have become pervasive as conceptual frameworks and core metaphors in recent publications by humanities scholars and well-known writers. Envisioning Landscapes, Making Worlds contains over twenty-five contributions from leading scholars who have engaged this vital intellectual project from various perspectives, both inside and outside of the field of geography. The book is divided into four sections representing different modes of examining the depth and complexity of human meaning invested in maps, attached to landscapes, and embedded in the spaces and places of modern life. The topics covered range widely and include interpretations of space, place, and landscape in literature and the visual arts, philosophical reflections on geographical knowledge, cultural imagination in scientific exploration and travel accounts, and expanded geographical understanding through digital and participatory methodologies. The clashing and blending of cultures caused by globalization and the new technologies that profoundly alter human environmental experience suggest new geographical narratives and representations that are explored here by a multidisciplinary group of authors. This book is essential reading for students, scholars, and interested general readers seeking to understand the new synergies and creative interplay emerging from this broad intellectual engagement with meaning and geographic experience.