Democratic Ideals and Reality: A Study in the Politics of Reconstruction (Classic Reprint) Paperback – August 24, 2018

Halford Mackinder's Democratic Ideals and Reality, is an extension of Mackinder's heartland theory as first established in a 1904 article for the Royal Geographical Society. In this book, we see the geopolitical importance of land power and its effects on sea power and on history. Sea power, according to Mackinder, is only maintained by the development of land power. Without land power, "insular" naval powers, like Great Britain, risked losing influence in world politics to nations like Russia, whose massive land mass provided man power, resources and the potential of establishing a competing sea power. This book highlights the importance of geography that strategic planning demands. For example, influence of the Heartland, according to Mackinder, is necessary to project power in the Eurasian landmass. The heartland is therefore, the strategic geographical plain on which land power provides a safeguard for sea power. By following Mackinder's analysis of geography, therefore, the geopolitical strategist must account for more than just national politics and understand the importance of geography in development of of the modern state's national interests.

Democratic Ideals and Reality is one of the best books to understand the development of democracy and its spread on the world. The book is well written and it is not difficult to understand for a foreigner (with a good dictionary or Wordreference at his hand, of course, which is my case). The only problem or complain that I have is the quality of the impression: it looks like a scanned version from the original. I think it is not so expensive to written it directly on the computer, check it and sold it as a decent book. It is a pitty because the essay is brilliant.

Good geographical perspective on history -- and large print. This edition's description does not mention it, but this book could be considered a Large Print or even Very Large Print. I ordered it after reading "The Revenge of Geography" (by Robert Kaplan), which cites many references to it. Though it was written not long after World War I, the author's observations and conclusions hold up well after nearly a hundred years.

I recently read a later book from Kaplan, The Revenge of Geography which makes many references to Mackinder and assumes some knowledge of his thinking. Reading the book by Mackinder unlocked the value of both books written more than half a century apart

A good historical book . I will keep it for reference .

It is amazing this guy is considered the father of geo politics and this books proves it. In summary it is unbelievable to see it was written early 1909-1919 time frame and so much of it has held and become true.

GREAT BACKGROUND RESEARCH

地政学の古典的名著です。これをこの低価格で購入できるのは非常にありがたい。大きさも持ち運びに便利です。ただし以下の点で注意が必要なので星四つとします。まず新品で買いましたが表紙が写真と違いました。緑色で大理石調です。私の好みではありますが。次にこの本の母体になったと思われる本に書き込まれた下線や括弧がそのまま印刷されてしまっています。明らかに印刷だとわかります。さらにところどころ印刷文字が切れています。ただしBIBLIOLIFEに確認したわけではなく、これらは私だけの問題かもしれません。しかし海外の製品で低価格のものは大抵この手の不具合があることを経験してきたのでここに一応注意を喚起しておきます。たいていの文字は読めますが、51ページ12行目右端の単語はおそらく原書を持っている方でないとわからないと思われるのでここに書きます。'outflank'私が思うにこの本は徹底的に書き込んで使い倒す本です。ペーパーバックですし大切に保管して丁寧に読み楽しむ本ではありません。原書を古本で買おうとするとすぐ一万円近く掛ってしまうことを考えれば、この本の低価格は極めて良心的であり好感が持てます。付箋を張るよりも書き込むほうが好きな方、原書が買えないもしくはもったいなくて持ち運べない方にこのBIBLIOLIFE版は向いていると思われます。

An interesting reflection on how geography has led to geopolitical and strategic policies and decision that were highly relevant in the Cold War.

A little lower grade than expected

Great book