So I’m just finishing “Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age” by Robert D. Kaplan, and it’s been such a great read – combining geopolitics, travel writing, philosophy, history, literature, academia, architecture, geography — a little bit of everything told in a rather captivating way!
So wondering if anyone had some neat ideas for anything of a similar vein – I’m really into geopolitical / history / travel books to keep learning about the wider world and the people in it.
Also just finished The “Prisoners of Geography” which was a really good read too and of a similar vein.
by notthebeachboy
2 Comments
Not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for, but it is still a good book nonetheless.
*Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon* by Michael O’Brien
you’re in the sweet spot where travel writing meets hard geopolitical lens—here’s a tight rec list:
* *Shadow of the Sun* by Ryszard Kapuściński firsthand foreign correspondence + political heat across post-colonial Africa
* *Ghosts of Spain* by Giles Tremlett modern history, civil war echoes, and cultural deep dives wrapped in travel narrative
* *The Balkans* by Misha Glenny dense, detailed, and brutally insightful on a region few understand
* *The Great Game* by Peter Hopkirk classic deep cut on 19th-century power plays across Central Asia—pure geopolitics meets spycraft
* *In Patagonia* by Bruce Chatwin less geopolitics, more vibe-heavy, but brilliant for global wander-thinkers