Geographer Maxim Samson selects from his library some of his favourite and formative reads. Maxim’s first book, Invisible Lines is out now
• Bosnian Chronicle (1945)
by Ivo Andrić
Andrić’s novel adroitly depicts the diplomatic puzzle facing French, Ottoman and Austrian representatives in a small, religiously diverse Bosnian town, and in so doing, captures humans’ universal challenges in overcoming misunderstandings and finding kinship.
• Nature’s Metropolis (1991)
by William Cronon
Cronon analyses Chicago’s emergence as an industrial metropolis and eloquently exemplifies the interdependency of people and environment, nature and culture.
• Nathaniel’s Nutmeg (1999)
by Giles Milton
The story of an Indonesian spice island fought over by the English and the Dutch in the 17th century. Ultimately, the two nations agreed to a trade involving another island that would soon become far more famous: Manhattan.
• Brilliant Orange (2000)
by David Winner
Far from merely discussing the Netherlands’ contributions to football globally, Winner insightfully portrays an idiosyncratically Dutch understanding of space and how this informs the country’s art, architecture, landscape and more.
• City of Quartz (2006)
by Mike Davis
A film noir in book form, Davis’s astute, visceral and impassioned chronicle of Los Angeles at the turn of the millennium offers a dystopian view of future urban society.
• The Invention of Nature (2015)
by Andrea Wulf
Wulf’s engaging biography of the explorer and geographer Alexander von Humboldt extols his revolutionary understanding of the natural world and astute predictions of environmental problems.
• Home Fire (2017)
by Kamila Shamsie
Deftly addressing the subject of modern jihadism, Shamsie’s reimagining of Antigone paints the intertwining predicaments and divided loyalties of two British Muslim families.
• Babel (2022)
by Rebecca F Kuang
Kuang’s ambitious novel brings to light the power of language as a tool of imperialism.
