Fundamentals of World Regional Geography (with CengageNOW Printed Access Card)

by Joseph J. Hobbs

FUNDAMENTALS OF WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY is specifically designed for the one-semester or one-quarter course. The text focuses on each region as a whole, emphasizing their roles in the world domain, while still exploring the critical subregional issues that make up each region's unique identity. Following two introductory chapters that provide the basic concepts, tools, and vocabulary for the world regional chapter, the remaining chapters of the text each focus on one of the eight world regions, describing the historical, cultural, economic, political, and physical aspects that create regional unity, give them personality, and make them newsworthy. This big picture approach, perfect for one-semester courses, places each region in a more global perspective, encouraging students to develop their own worldview. Unlike other brief world regional geography texts, however, FUNDAMENTALS OF WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY does not ignore or downplay subregional issues. The final section of each regional chapter looks at numerous specific issues and landscapes within the region that have broad implications for the rest of the region as a whole and how those issues impact other global regions. The text is fully integrated with World Regional GeographyNow™, the first assessment-driven and student-centered online learning solution created specifically for this course. World Regional GeographyNow™ uses a series of chapter-specific diagnostic tests to build a personalized learning plan for each student, allowing students to focus their study time on specific areas of weaknesses. Each personalized learning plan directs students to specific chapter sections and concept-driven multimedia tutorials designed to maximize their study time and augment their understanding.

Genres: Textbooks, School, Geography, Read For School

Paperback

Published February 21, 2006

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Textbook, No Comment.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good textbook.... Like any textbook it got boring at times and seemed to drag on and on.

[Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used for Geography 200 at LU

[Steve Hazell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook. Interesting for the most part.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was in high school and my mum took a course in urban geography as part of her undergraduate studies. The book was written by a Dutch fellow, and I found the book quite interesting myself as someone very interested in both geography and the relationship between town and country [1]. I was reminded about that book when I was reading this one, which at more than 400 pages is the sort of textbook that would be assigned to a class of undergraduate students of geography who more or less had to be there because regional geography was a required course, not because they had a quirky interest in the formation of identity for geographic regions based on the complex mixture of physical environment and human factors. This is a book that by trying to do too much ends up doing a bit too little, and that is giving students a compelling reason to love and practice an understanding of regional geography. It has all the hallmarks of being written for people who have to read it, not so much for those who choose to read it freely of their own accord.

The contents of this book, as might be imagined, are a bit sprawling. The author divides the earth into eight regions: Europe, Russia and the "Near Abroad," "The Middle East and North Africa, Monsoon Asia, The Pacific World (Oceania), Africa South of the Sahara, Latin America, and the United States and Canada (and Greenland). Before these regions are discussed in that order, the author gives a brief discussion of the objectives and tools of world regional geography without doing a good job of explaining why anyone would practice it and then provides a somewhat vaguely politically correct discussion of the physical and human processes that shape regional geography. When looking at the regions themselves, the author provides notes on area and population, physical geography and human adaptation, cultural and human geographies, economic geography, geopolitical issues, and regional issues and landscapes , a pattern that is uniformly kept up through all the regions. The author manages to hit most of the high points about the problems faced by different regions because of the disconnect between human behaviors and geography and between historical and cultural geography, but the author is content to give a fairly superficial level of discussion about these problems without blaming anything other than European imperialism for most of these difficulties.

It is difficult to give a good recommendation about this book. If one had to read it as a college student, one could certainly do far worse. An astute and alert student would at least be able to understand the tangle of issues between human and environmental factors that make an area a region, and avoid the extremes of either environmental possibilism or determinism that are provided here as a false dilemma. Even with the book's length, its scope is so immense that it can only give the most surface-level discussion of the topics under the author's purview. As a result one gets brief flashes of information about the threat of future devolution in Russia and someone's comment that Russia needs a czar, as well as Nigeria's lament about the mistakes that led so many disparate elements to be placed in one nation, or a division of Africa into three levels of political freedom or a look at the "new slave trade" in various areas because of human trafficking that demonstrates the corruption of Europe and the United States. The author also, predictably, takes a somewhat too credulous view of anthropomorphic climate change. This is a book that could have been a lot better, but it could have been a lot worse as well.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

[Jennifer Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a text book that I had to read for geography but I enjoyed it. I know a lot more about the world and I know the locations of certain countries much better. Each chapter is laid out in a similar format so you know what you will be learning about the region and where to go to find the information as well. I used to really like non-fiction books but now I read more fiction. This book is a great example of my love for non-fiction books.

[Az (أسماء) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book doesn't even deserve the one star!

This book (text book) is so biased and unfair to soooooo many parts of the world. It's pretty much told from a one specific point of view ignoring and disrespecting so many great aspects of the many cultures around the world. It's honestly heartbreaking :(!

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It will make a good reference book for later studies as it is so detailed.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for a class. Super informative and not to dense to wrap my head around. Plus it's great that Dr. Hobbs works at my University!