GEOGRAPHY IS DESTINY: Britain and The World

Applying the latest archaeological evidence, Ian Morris explores how geography, migration, government and new technologies interacted to produce regional inequalities that still affect us today. He charts Britain's geopolitical fortunes over 10,000 years, revealing its transformation from a European satellite into a state at the centre of global power, commerce and culture. But as power and wealth shift from West to East, does Britain's future lie with Europe or the wider world? From being Europe's fractious, feuding periphery, divided by customs, language and landscape, and always at the mercy of more powerful continental neighbours - the British turned themselves into a united kingdom, but as wealth now shifts from the West towards China and the East, what fate awaits Britain in the 21st century? A banquet of ideas, clever, acute and counterintuitive, this magnificent history is a pleasure to read. 570pp, many illus.