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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I didn't like it. It wasn't super informative or inspiring. It tried to make jokes but they were bad. It tried to use flags as a jumping off point to talk about modern geopolitics and it didn't give any nuanced takes on anything.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
I finished one of Marshall's other books, Prisoners of Geography, a few days ago. I found this book weaker. Not bad, but weaker.
My main qualm with the actual writing was the poor editing in numerous segments. There were multiple errors scattered through the book, including a reference to the Ugandan flag as 'Malawi' in the inset, although there is correct usage in the text. There are also sections where Marshall justifies himself as to why he wrote things in certain ways, such as putting Iran and Turkey in the Arabia section, which made the book come across as quite unprofessional. Yes, that's the vibe Marshall seems to be going for in places with his occasional jokes, but some easy edits could've resulted in this not being needed. He used 'Middle East' in Prisoners of Geography, why not here? In addition 'Flags of Fear' could've become 'Flags of Modern Fear' to justify why all of the flags happen to be located in the Middle East.
Marshall also does quite a bit of fanboy-ing about both flags and non-flag related things in this book, so take that in stead if you choose to read this book.
Anywho, I learnt quite a bit about the regions I was had weaker knowledge on beforehand including the odd fact on regions I am more versed in. Readability is good (I sped through it) although he does repeat the exact same facts several pages apart in a couple of places. It's not on par with Prisoners of Geography, but far from the worst book I've ever read.
My main qualm with the actual writing was the poor editing in numerous segments. There were multiple errors scattered through the book, including a reference to the Ugandan flag as 'Malawi' in the inset, although there is correct usage in the text. There are also sections where Marshall justifies himself as to why he wrote things in certain ways, such as putting Iran and Turkey in the Arabia section, which made the book come across as quite unprofessional. Yes, that's the vibe Marshall seems to be going for in places with his occasional jokes, but some easy edits could've resulted in this not being needed. He used 'Middle East' in Prisoners of Geography, why not here? In addition 'Flags of Fear' could've become 'Flags of Modern Fear' to justify why all of the flags happen to be located in the Middle East.
Marshall also does quite a bit of fanboy-ing about both flags and non-flag related things in this book, so take that in stead if you choose to read this book.
Anywho, I learnt quite a bit about the regions I was had weaker knowledge on beforehand including the odd fact on regions I am more versed in. Readability is good (I sped through it) although he does repeat the exact same facts several pages apart in a couple of places. It's not on par with Prisoners of Geography, but far from the worst book I've ever read.
informative
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
fast-paced
medium-paced