INVISIBLE LINES: Boundaries and Belts That Define the World

The Financial Times said, 'An illuminating glimpse of the chain reactions of human and physical geography.' This is a fascinating exploration of the lesser-known and more subtle borders across the earth, and the surprising ways in which they shape our lives. Our world has innumerable boundaries, ranging from the obvious like an ocean to the subtle differences in language or climate. Most of us cross invisible lines all the time, but do not stop to consider them. Here geographer Maxim Samson 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 existence or perceived existence of dividing lines has manifold implications for people, wildlife, and places. Football's no-go neighbourhoods, evolutionary splits, segregation along Detroit's infamous 8 Mile, to herds of deer that refuse to cross the former Iron Curtain, the book is a veritable treat for the armchair explorer. Fully illustrated with maps of each location in a new way of viewing our world in all its consistency and messiness too. 404pp.