In history lessons at school, we studied kings and kingdoms. Memorized dates of battles and constructions. Followed armies and navies all over the world.
We were thrilled by ferocious fights and challenging conquests.
Enjoyed salacious gossip.
Marvelled at the fabulous fortunes accumulated. Or magnificent jewels plundered, then proudly shown off by powerful monarchs and emperors.
But something was lost in the telling.
The broader trends and regional imperatives (‘strategy‘) that guided and directed wars and reforms (‘tactics‘) were never ‘exam questions’ – and so we conveniently overlooked them.
Neither was any ruler, or empire, or force, properly contextualized within an extended swathe of historical time.
We were only taught bits and pieces.
And so we missed the forest for the trees.
Long after leaving school, in my extensive study of world history (with a special interest and emphasis on European history), I concentrated entirely on the bigger picture.
It was like zooming out from the view in a microscope or telescope.
As details of micro-events grow blurry, a much more glorious pattern emerges.
A pattern that’s impossible to intuit – let alone observe – while being caught up in the nitty-gritty details of, say, how many troops lined up on each side during the Battle of Plassey, or which precious gems were stolen by Nadir Shah when he besieged Delhi.
For a decade or two, I revelled in the study of this kind of history.
And even extended the limits of my learning both further into the past (right unto when people first settled into communities like Çatalhöyük some 7,000 years ago) – and also to more recent contemporary issues (like those highlighted in Peter Frankopan‘s excellent ‘The New Silk Roads‘).
It was interesting. And revelational.
But then, just in the last couple of years, I’ve stumbled across books that focus on the role that geography plays in channeling historical events in specific directions.
And from the little I’ve studied so far, one thing stands out…
We are all ‘victims’ of our geography!
In other words, while exceptional human initiatives have indeed altered the course of history, by and large these have been controlled and directed only by a region’s geography.
Wrapping my head around this intriguing concept was initially difficult.
But after reading some elegantly explained concepts, especially in two books – Robert Kaplan‘s ‘The Revenge of Geography‘, and Tim Marshall‘s ‘Prisoners of Geography‘…
This idea simply makes too much sense!
No wonder Kaplan asserts that you can tell more about the future of a region by observing its geography – than from listening to what its leaders say!
And so I’m ready for another pivot.
From ‘history‘ to ‘geography‘.
In a quest to better understand our world.
The events and trends we’ve lived through – and can expect to.
The speed, nature and direction of our evolution.
The determinants of our future.
Maybe even more.
Who knows?
🤔