What is Geography?

Alastair Bonnett

Jan 2008 · SAGE

About this ebook

"I cannot imagine a better guide to the transition between school and undergraduate geography than this short, informative and confidently-argued book. Written without fuss but based on solid learning and clear thinking, it tackles head-on a question many professional academic geographers would rather avoid."
- Alisdair Rogers, University of Oxford

"A beautiful little book that helps to introduce the core concepts of geography and provides an ideal framework for relating other fields of knowledge and academia."
- Stefan Zimmermann, University of Osnabruck

What is Geography? Geography is a fundamental fascination with, and a crucial method for, understanding the way the world works.

This text offers readers a short and highly accessible account of the ideas and concepts constituting geography. Drawing out the key themes that define the subject, What is Geography? demonstrates how and why these themes - like environment and geopolitics- are of fundamental importance.

Including discussion of both the human and the natural realms, the text looks at key themes like environment, space, and place - as well as geography′s methods and the history of the discipline.

Introductory but not simplified, What is Geography? will provide students with the ability to understand the history and context of the subject without any prior knowledge. Designed as a key transitional text for students entering undergraduate courses, this book will be of interest to all readers interested in and intrigued by the "geographical imagination".

About the author

Alastair Bonnett is Professor of Geography at Newcastle University. His books have been translated into nineteen languages and include ‘The Age of Islands: In Search of New and Disappearing Islands’ and ‘Multiracism: Rethinking Racism in Global Context’.