How humans harnessed the geographical landscape and wrote ourselves onto our surroundings

'A riposte to the idea that geography is destiny' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Samson demonstrates how we are not always prisoners of geography but, increasingly, its masters' LEWIS DARTNELL 'This is a book that reshapes our story of global human geography' DANNY DORLING 'Accessible and erudite, this is an original look at the geography of connection' LEWIS BASTON Mountains, meridians, rivers and borders; these are some of the features that carve up the world on our maps and in our minds. But geography is far less set in stone than we might believe and, over time, we have become experts at reshaping our surroundings. From the Qhapaq Ñan, South America's 'Great Road', and the Panama Canal to Mozambique's railways and Korea's sacred Baekdu-daegan mountain range, Samson explores how we mould the world around us. And how, as we etch our needs onto the natural landscape, we alter the course of history. An immense work of cultural geography touching on ecology, sociology, history and politics, Earth Shapers argues that, far from being constrained by geography, we are instead its creators.

"Samson takes a fresh look at humanity's imprint on the planet ... A riposte to the idea that geography is destiny by charting the ways humans have reshaped their surroundings" - Financial Times

"Praise for INVISIBLE LINES" - :

"An illuminating glimpse of the chain reactions of human and physical geography ... Invisible Lines shows the unexpected side-effects of human-drawn borders" - Financial Times

"A chance to see the world anew through the eyes of a wonderfully curious new writer" - Observer

"Endlessly interesting" - Spectator

"Invisible Lines is a fascinating, detailed exploration of the hidden boundaries that carve up the world ... it is a pleasure to accompany Samson to the Malaria Belt, inside eruvim (markers of a single domestic space within which fewer Sabbath regulations apply), or along the border of Portugal to discover why vultures prefer not to cross it" - Telegraph

"A fascinating exploration of the lesser-known and more subtle borders across the earth and the surprising ways in which they shape our lives" - i news