Van Loon Geography -- A Story of the World: A Story of the World

Author: Hendrik Willem van Loon
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: Why do Danes indulge in quiet studies, while Spaniards are passionate about vast landscapes? Why did Japan expand outward in modern times, yet Switzerland, equally small in territory, maintained neutrality? What is the relationship between a nation's character and historical development and its geographical environment? In this lively and witty geography book by Van Loon, you might find the answers. After briefly introducing basic geographical knowledge, the author explores the geographical environments of different countries by region, focusing on analyzing the impact of geography on the historical evolution of nations and the formation of their people's character. Therefore, this is a geography book about "people." Its purpose is to "place all the mountains, cities, and seas on the map and tell us about the people who live there, explaining why they live there, where they come from, and what they do—writing the stories that concern humanity into geography." In other words, this book emphasizes human geography. We might be able to write a good love story, but we cannot write such a monumental work. Such a grand topic is enough to make one fearful just to think about it. People who love literature should read more books outside of literature. Only literature rooted in the humanities and natural sciences can flourish deeply and widely. And those miscellaneous books can be very interesting, depending on who writes them.