This book is a textbook approach that aims at providing an understanding of our planet's physical topography, climatic and vegetative environment, and the relationship that human beings share across regions. The Physical Geography section deals with topics that span the planet's various topographies like the Earth's Crust, Weathering, Mass Movement and Groundwater; Landforms of Glaciation, The Ocean, Lakes, Coastal Landforms, etc. Each chapter has a questions section to help readers evaluate their understanding of the subject explained in that chapter. Various illustrations and photographs enhance the text, to enable all students to easily understand the concepts. Part two of the book, The Weather, Climate and Vegetation section, covers subjects like different climates and climatic zones like Equatorial, Savanna, Tropical or Arctic climates. Table Of Contents PART I PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 1. The Earth and the Universe 1 Exploring the Universe 2. The Earth's Crust 3. Vulcanism and Earthquakes 4. Weathering, Mass Movement and Groundwater 5. Landforms made by Running Water 6. Landforms of Glaciation 7. Arid or Desert Landforms 8. Limestone and Chalk Landforms 9. Lakes 66 General, 10. Coastal Landforms 11. Islands and Coral Reefs 12. The Oceans PART 2 WEATHER, CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 13. Weather 14. Climate 15. The Hot, Wet Equatorial Climate 16. The Tropical Monsoon and Tropical Marine Climates 17. The Savanna or Sudan Climate 18. The Hot Desert and Mid-Latitude Desert Cli-mates 19. The Warm Temperate Western Margin (Mediterranean) Climate 20. The Temperate Continental (Steppe) Climate 21. The Warm Temperate Eastern Margin (China Type) Climate 22. The Cool Temperate Western Margin (British Type) Climate 23, The Cool Temperate Continental (Siberian) Climate 24. The Cool Temperate Eastern Margin (Lauren-tian) Climate 25. The Arctic or Polar Climate .
This book is an indispensible tool for preparing core concepts of psysical geography for Civil Services Preliminary Examination. Gives a lucid and crystal clear explanation of concepts.Presentation is excellant. One of the best book availiabale in the market.Serious aspirants just go for it.!! Hats off to flipcart for their service.
While there’s no doubt regarding authority of the writer on the subject, throughout the chapters one thing constantly made me uncomfortable. Geography as a subject is closely related to environment. It can not be viewed as an isolated discipline independently from the surrounding. Still author has maintained apathetic views towards environment and climate change across the chapters. It is understandable that book was first published in 1974, still uses obsolete terms like USSR and Yugoslavia and the fact that climate change and sixth mass extinction was not at the forefront of global concerns then but ignoring these vital issues is not expected from someone who knows the earth inside out. I mean no disrespect to the competence of the author but I can’t even hold the anxiety that stems from writing that put only human needs, rather human luxuries as the top priority while turning a blind eye towards the fact that earth is equally shared by other living and non living beings. I believe that environmental considerations should be made inseparable part of every academic work if we want future generations to understand the magnitude of threat that human existence faces today.
Lastly, book has brilliantly explored all physical and climatological aspects of world geography in a succinct manner. It can be referred by every student of geography and also by anyone who wants to know the earth and the climate in general.
I have slightly mixed opinions. To grasp basics of geography, it is beyond doubt, a fantastic book. However, you'll need a reference book for world and Indian geography (assuming that you are not referring to the Atlas). I'm also saying this purely from prelims + GS paper perspective.
The reason why I'm giving it a low score is because the book hasn't been updated. I bought it in 2019, and it said that there are 9 planets. I found out that the recent ones in the market are not updated either (I might be wrong though). Secondly, I agree with the other reviewer that there are obsolete terms used. While you probably can different/grasp what the author is trying to convey, the problem is that when such mistakes persist, you'll end up reflecting that in your paper and Dun dun. There goes your marks down the drain. Considering that it is highly recommended for UPSC, I think it is for the best that you cross check.
Another thing I'd like to add is a personal opinion. Leong's language is slightly problematic at times (to put it delicately). While it may not reflect your personal opinion, it might crop up unconsciously when writing an answer, and in turn, affect your score negatively.
Final remark: Go for it. BUT cross check and be diligent while reading.
This is a great book. Very concise but sufficient for anyone trying to get their basics of geography clear. It has beautiful illustrations and and examples. If one complements the examples with images on google, one is sure to appreciate the geographical features of the world. The only drawback is that it is outdated. So any reliance on figures and statistics is futile and data should be self-checked. Highly recommended.
"The most concise form of notes" is what I can describe the book as. No unnecessary mumble to litter the useful information, well explained diagrams and concepts. Overall a great time saver.
Good introductory book that flows well. Provides a good overview of the larger geographical phenomena and climates on earth.
Since the Imperial System was used, it is a pain to convert all the quantities into the Metric System. But was still less painful than going through the NCERT on Physical Geography.