Travels from West Africa, Egypt and Iran to Central Asia, India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia. This book offers a portrait of devasted parts of the world, where the author uses the individual experiences of people and his own personal position to shed light on the larger issues.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Although Kaplan attempts to style this dense book as a semi-linear travel narrative, it is actually more of an heavily footnoted eyewitness account of the dramatic transitions occurring in various developing regions. Chock full of provocative and disturbing ideas culled from many social sciences, the book starts with a largely pessimistic 89 pages of West Africa and 37 pages of Egypt. I didn't find anything particularly new or illuminating in these two sections, but they serve as a good introduction to the issues if you aren't familiar with what's happening there, although recent events somewhat date his account of West Africa in particular. It didn't take me long to get fed up with Kaplan's machine gun use of statistics to support his observations. That, and his tendency to repeat himself, undermine his attempts at literary narrative. Fortunately, I came to a deeply engrossing 45 pages of Turkey and the Caucuses, 70 pages of Iran, and 96 pages of Central Asia. These three sections were what made the book for me, even readers already familiar with the areas will find value in Kaplan's account. It was here that Kaplan seemed most comfortable and most knowledgeable. Lots of great info about the ethnic dynamics of the areas and great historical tidbits make these worth interesting even if you don't read the sections before or after. What follows is a sporadically interesting 100 pages on the Indian subcontinent and "Indochina." The book is greatly aided by its maps, and Kaplan is careful to acknowledge the sources of the ideas he presents. There is also an excellent bibliography for those interested in followup reading. The great value in this book lies in Kaplan's insistence (correct in my belief) that population growth is the single most destabilizing force in the world today and that it must be addressed before all else.
By A. J. Smith
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Kaplan has delivered his usual style and analysis to a rather random collection of travel memoirs. While not as coherent or as unified as its predecessor Balkan Ghosts, or later writings, Ends of the Earth has the underlying theme of population growth, its causes and effects. While written over ten years ago, most of the underlying trends and themes explored within this work are entirely relevant to the present.
More of a travel memoir, rather than a political analysis, Ends of the Earth is an enjoyable read, whether taken as a travel memoir or a social study.
More of a travel memoir, rather than a political analysis, Ends of the Earth is an enjoyable read, whether taken as a travel memoir or a social study.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
10 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Admiration in despite of "malthusian" pessimism
18 Jan 1998
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I want to express my deeper admiration to this work, that I consider extremely clarifying on the situation of the Third World. Perhaps the theory will be excessively "malthusian" and, as such, pessimistic, but when procures be released of that prophetic determinism, Kaplan provides explanations that can not be rejected beforehand . Joaquín Collado (Spain)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
important book
21 Feb 2002
By Neel Aroon
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Robert Kaplan writes about his experiences traveling abroad from africa to cambodia discussing things like the region's historys and economies. The book provides an interesting comparision among different improvished regions of the world. Reading this book provides a better understanding of the third world.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A travel guide in the tradition of Dante!
28 Dec 1996
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Kaplan leads us along civilizations' San Andreas fault. Here are the places where upheavals, fissures, explosions and social destruction are likley to occur. Kaplan is a travel writer in the same way that Dr. Stranglove is a physics teacher. He sets out to write a travel document that serves as "shock therapy" and succeeds admirably. His analysis of the ethnic stew that is Central Asia is helful to the general reader who wants to understand the political implications of the break-up of the Soviet Union
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