All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to understand world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture. To understand Putin's actions, for example, it is essential to consider that, to be a world power, Russia must have a navy. And if its ports freeze for six months each year then it must have...

"Countries die. Sometimes it's murder, sometimes it's by accident, and sometimes it's because they were so ludicrous they didn't deserve to exist in the first place. Occasionally they explode violently. A few slip away almost unnoticed. Often the cause of death is either "got too greedy" or "Napoleon turned up." Now and then they just hold a referendum and vote themselves out of existence. This is an atlas of 48 nations that fell off the map."--Dust...

"This exquisitely updated edition of National Geographic's popular and reader-friendly Family Reference Atlas features authoritative maps, detailed artwork, and explanatory graphics--an indispensable source of information for inquiring minds, young and old. In these richly illustrated pages, every country in the world is represented by a detailed map within its geographical context and also its flag, key statistics, and secondary maps with environmental...