Borders: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) Illustrated Edition

A very useful reference work.

Whilst the opening chapter presents a reasonable account of the history of borders, the descriptions and explanations of borders in more recent periods is a biased consolidation heavy on historical revisionism. As a former student and researcher in academic geography at a time when the emerging paradigm was toward a objective quantitative methodology I am appalled at this reversion to the anecdotal and the ideological pandering in this book. I am well aware that it is at best a compilation for the general reader and reflects the attitudes of its authors. For a work on borders it is light on maps and diagrams but far too heavy on politics and policies and neologisms such as "bordering". Despite defining borders fairly in terms of flows and filters there is no attempt to illustrate or quantify such parameters. Beware of any discipline that appends "studies" to its title (as in border studies). It is the strategy of opportunism.

Purchased this book for my Political Geography class and had to write a review about it. It's a really good little book. Compact and yet packed with so much data. It's a quick read and very interesting. I would recommend this book if you had any wonder on how borders evolved from generalized territories to the hard borders they are today.

This is the first Very Short Introduction I've read which had no wit or humor, but it's very thorough and fulfills its contract with the reader who wants a complete overview of the subject, from nations to neighborhoods. It is certainly thought-provoking and can raise awareness to complex issues.

Despite the short length, "Borders" is a fairly thorough examination of the interesting topic of borders through ancient times up to modern times. My main quarrel with this short introduction is that it lacks wit, charm, or whatever you wish to call it. It was dry as dust or matzah, which ever you would prefer. (Matzah balls, however, are a different story!) It is my view that it's not enough to deliver only the relevant information, but also to present it in an enjoyable and entertaining fashion.

Well, but I miss diagrams, drawings and schemes that reinforce the writings

I needed this book for political geography. The book basically summarized the entire course and is an easy quick read. My grandfather loves reading it also.

Definitely a good book for a beginner but didn't find anything that was new to me. Still recommend it to everyone that has questions about geography

Compared to the other VSI books I read, which are always different and usually entertaining, Borders have very few ideas, that repeats once and again and again, and is overall a boring book

Good book. It touches very interesting topics about the border spaces around the world. Very useful for students and teachers of geography.