"The volume is indispensable to the student of British geography or history." - Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, 1902
"Both interesting and useful...this book is one to be taken seriously." - The Speaker, 1902
"Mackinder is one of the most distinguished living geographers...a wealth of historical and geographical knowledge." - Fortnightly Review, 1920
In his 1902 book Britain and the British Seas, Mackinder discusses the position, structure, physical history, and climate, as well as the racial, strategic, economic, and historical geography, of Great Britain and Ireland. It included the first comprehensive geomorphology of the British Isles and which became a classic in regional geography.
Mackinder's book is perhaps, the most compact and philosophical treatment of British geography. The subjects of the earlier chapters are: the Position of Britain, the British Seas, the Submarine Platform and the Movement of the Waters, The physiography of the land follows under several heads. While these chapters are mainly devoted to physical features, we find frequent reference to the distinctively human aspects of geography. Thus the isolation caused by the various marine waters of Britain has begotten the provincialism, which in turn has provided the varied initiative that gives meaning to liberty. This is a broad mode of treatment which we should expect from Mr. Mackinder.
In his concluding discussion on British naval power, Mackinder writes: "The whole course of future history depends on whether the Old Britain beside the Narrow Seas have enough of virility and imagination to withstand all challenge of her naval supremacy, until such time as the daughter nations shall have grown to maturity, and the British Navy shall have expanded into the Navy of the Britains."
