This is listed as a non-crackpot book, but as a geography graduate (lots of good that did me), I was kind of embarrassed reading it. De Blij was 70 years old when he wrote it (and has since died), but (although readable), he was repetitive, got facts wrong, and emphasised irrelevent angles (I guess geographers are prone to do that). The last 13 words of the title are misleading, because, although he has chapters on those issues, he kind of meanders in and out on the exact subject. His 2nd edition is simply "Why Geography Matters More Than Ever".
How did he come up with "Iceland was abandoned" in the Little Ice Age? (p.77)

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