Earth Shapers: How Humans Mastered Geography and Remade the World

'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.

Author: Maxim Samson
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
Published: 3 September 2026
ISBN: 9781800815247