W. Gordon East (1902–1998)

This little book on geography is a recent discovery at a nearby library. It's a very good introduction as to how the physcial environment shapes mankind's place in it and history. It is well illustrated with maps, and the text is always engaging.

I'm a fool for books with maps. Not to put too fine a point on it, I'm a fool for books about maps and geography because they're about models of reality. The black-and-white maps herein are marvels of simplification of the sort which lends them, at least for me, a certain nostalgic appeal. The text itself has a Churchillian grandeur; history has a wide sweep here.

hardback