What magazine/book to gift a friend who wants to learn about geography?
November 16, 2020 3:43 PM Subscribe
My friend, tired of being the one who 'never knows anything about other countries' in our weekly trivia/quiz get-togethers, is starting a new project to learn about geography. She's bought herself a new notebook and pen, and has a plan to learn about a new country or two each week - and is now totally unsure how to start due to information overload. What magazine or book can I gift her for Christmas that will give her inspiring overviews of the different countries of the world?
I thought a magazine subscription would be nice because it'd be an ongoing, fresh source of inspiration - but National Geographic doesn't seem to fit the bill anymore (fewer articles on different countries and more on DNA / Mars exploration / etc nowadays), the Lonely Planet magazine looked great but has just ceased, and other travel magazines like Nat Geo Traveller seem to focus more on specific resort towns, or essays on 'why we travel' etc. Does anyone have any better recommendations?
In lieu of magazines, a beautiful book on all the countries could be good. The Lonely Planet Travel Book is a nice example that I'm considering - it doesn't have much text on each country, but it does have nicely organised summary information and some inspiring images. Are there any other amazing options I could consider?
We are in Australia so bonus points for magazine recommendations that don't have to be sent across the world - but it's not a deal-breaker.
I thought a magazine subscription would be nice because it'd be an ongoing, fresh source of inspiration - but National Geographic doesn't seem to fit the bill anymore (fewer articles on different countries and more on DNA / Mars exploration / etc nowadays), the Lonely Planet magazine looked great but has just ceased, and other travel magazines like Nat Geo Traveller seem to focus more on specific resort towns, or essays on 'why we travel' etc. Does anyone have any better recommendations?
In lieu of magazines, a beautiful book on all the countries could be good. The Lonely Planet Travel Book is a nice example that I'm considering - it doesn't have much text on each country, but it does have nicely organised summary information and some inspiring images. Are there any other amazing options I could consider?
We are in Australia so bonus points for magazine recommendations that don't have to be sent across the world - but it's not a deal-breaker.
My dad is enjoying "Travel as a Political Act" by Rick Steves. I enjoyed "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner, which is about traveling the world to learn about happiness in different societies.
The Economist magazine has articles about all the countries, but it is more about politics and economics, and technology news, so maybe not what you are looking for.
posted by catquas at 4:02 PM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
The Economist magazine has articles about all the countries, but it is more about politics and economics, and technology news, so maybe not what you are looking for.
posted by catquas at 4:02 PM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
What an excellent excuse for a snack box subscription!
posted by dum spiro spero at 4:10 PM on November 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by dum spiro spero at 4:10 PM on November 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
I have that Lonely Planet Travel book but they also have more in the series like Cities, Asia, Africa, Europe. Each place gets more details in those versions.
Since this is for trivia knowledge, I'd stay away from academic texts and go with more pop sci titles:
The Handy Geography Answer book
Don't Know Much About Geography
posted by soelo at 4:37 PM on November 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
Since this is for trivia knowledge, I'd stay away from academic texts and go with more pop sci titles:
The Handy Geography Answer book
Don't Know Much About Geography
posted by soelo at 4:37 PM on November 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
This is slightly lateral but depending on her learning style, a world map coloring book (one example) plus some nice pencils or what have you, might be a nice "activity" gift. Other suggestions include a nice wall map of all the countries or even a shower curtain with all the countries. I also really suggest the Rick Steves books, he's got a really excellent attitude.
posted by jessamyn at 4:37 PM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn at 4:37 PM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
There is a UK magazine that offers digital subscriptions: Geographical and it is from the Royal Geography Society. You may want to see a few current issues to see if it the kind of stuff you are looking for.
posted by soelo at 4:38 PM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by soelo at 4:38 PM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
Does she want to learn geographical facts (which can be kind of hard to remember with no real context), or does she want to learn about modern life and current affairs in diffferent countries?
New Internationalist does the latter with a fairly left leaning/ethical slant if that would be of interest - you can see summaries of all the articles in the most recent editon here. Kind of a left-learning answer to The Economist. Might be more issue-based than you're after, though.
posted by penguin pie at 4:46 PM on November 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
New Internationalist does the latter with a fairly left leaning/ethical slant if that would be of interest - you can see summaries of all the articles in the most recent editon here. Kind of a left-learning answer to The Economist. Might be more issue-based than you're after, though.
posted by penguin pie at 4:46 PM on November 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
An atlas that is well made and has lots of extras makes a great gift. Political maps, topographical maps, language maps, all that kind of stuff. It can have historical elements showing how things changed through history. Introductions to each region of the world, with info on culture and traditions, etc.
posted by Fukiyama at 4:56 PM on November 16, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by Fukiyama at 4:56 PM on November 16, 2020 [6 favorites]
Maphead by Ken Jennings.
posted by kevinbelt at 5:14 PM on November 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by kevinbelt at 5:14 PM on November 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Seconding Jessamyn's map colouring book suggestion. I did the Wynn Kapit "Geography Coloring Book" as someone who didn't know Peru from Portugal, and it was extremely helpful as a starting point for learning more. The one I did provided little tidbits of info about each country to consider while colouring the maps.
posted by unlapsing at 5:29 PM on November 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by unlapsing at 5:29 PM on November 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
posted by abuckamoon at 2:59 PM on November 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by abuckamoon at 2:59 PM on November 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by biffa at 3:50 PM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]