ome to think of it, all of our understanding of world geography today comes from Eurocentric Western education and the myths that have been propagated by it.

These myths have come to be unquestionably accepted as the norm and `quietly absorbed` in classrooms around the world and with them the geopolitical dynamics that have developed in the last few centuries.

The book Myths of Geography: Eight Ways We Get the World Wrong by Paul Richardson, is a collection of eight important and pertinent essays that make a case for, and provide a testament to, why one must not blindly accept and, in fact, actively dispute, age-old mythical notions of world geography. These, the author argues, don`t reflect how the world is but how it has come to be imagined over the course of history.

`These myths are stories so powerfully ingrained in our consciousness that they can even stop us recognising that they are, in fact, products of our own active imaginations,` he writes.

In this book, Richardson, an associate professor in Human Geography at the University of Birmingham, charts `a set of myths for our current age, revealing their enduring power and how they are fundamental to how we understand the world and its geography`, and the need to subvert them in order to imagine and construct a brave new world.

The first chapter on continental divisions quite literally turns our world upside down. Terming it the biggest geographical myth, Richardson questions the validity of notions on which continental demarcations have been created and whether it is indeed the only way to divide our world.

The distinction between Asia and Europe is the biggest bone of contention. Discussing the history of the changing borders between Europe and Asia, he argues that, if the relatively diminutive Ural Mountains (1,000-1,300m) are considered a demarcation between Europe and Asia, then the mighty Himalayas (100 peaks above 7,200m) should mean that South Asia is considered a continent in its own right.

If distinctive civilisation is considered a defining point, then what about the varied civilisations of the largest continent? Is it wise to club the vast expanse of Asia and Africa and their richness simply as `Oriental` or `African` when, in reality, neither has one singular identity? These assertions of commonality and singularity are faulty at best. He leaves the reader mulling over the thought that, if these rigid demarcations were removed, we could see the world differently and discover new possibilities.

The myth of the border details how and why border walls fail.

Richardson argues that they seldom, if ever, provide the complete sense of security and separation they promise. Desperation breeds ingenuity and the border walls only increase insecurity. In some cases, as in Hadrian`s Wall in the UK and the Great Wall of China, they became places of meeting and connection.

The myth of the nation, writes Richardson, is illusionary and naive.

It relies on the invention of traditions, forging continuity with the ancient and the invocation of the Golden Age. He notes that, while Russia largely did away with its imperial past, Putin`s inauguration was full of pomp and grandeur, stemming from the ancient and the invoking of the bygone.

Germany, as we know it now, was only unified in 1871 that`s even after the USA declared independence and Italy only a few years earlier, in 1860. Europe was largely fragmented for most of history.

So, if the rise of the nation and nation state is a relatively modern European phenomenon, why is the world so hell-bent on these rigid boundaries? He further notes that, as a result of the super imposition of a national identity, local communities are prevented from being energised in resources, power distribution and decision-making.

Sovereignty, too, is a myth and taking back `control` is not what it seems. Here Richardson discusses a different way of ordering the world, where no one power dominates at the expense of others. Digital citizenship in the age of the internet might sound absurd at first but not more than `sailing to the other side of the world and planting a flag of ownership in a place already inhabited by an established community.

Sovereignty is too difficult to define, a case in point being Brexit.

It presented an idealised image of sovereignty, despite which the UK remains a signatory to over 700 treaties that each require it to concede some elements of its sovereignty. In turn, it now also finds itselfsusceptible to other powerful states, institutions, sovereign wealth funds, lobbies, and asset management and global corporations.

Absolute sovereignty, hence, is now out of control and beyond the reach of any state.

Measuring growth and GDP, Richardson argues, is also a flawed marker. It misses collective well-being and happiness, and tells us nothing about health, education and institutions. The USA, for example, has the top GDP in the world but it is only 19th on the Happiness Report. In addition, income inequality doesn`t show up in GDP and neither does the depletion and degradation of natural resources.

The chapters on the myths of Russian expansionism and China`s Silk Road give a historical context and prove once again how the West has controlled the narrative and defamed the t wo Asian giants and, in turn, benefitted economically and politically from these hegemonic designs.

Probably the most important chapter in the book is the last one: `The myth that Africa is doomed to fail.` The injustices piled on Africa and its history and geography that Richardson has highlighted are hair-raising to say the least. As is the perpetual portrayal of the myth that Africa chooses to remain in poverty and is `functionally helpless` in battling its own problems. All this while colonialists perpetually altered history books to substantiate their own narrative, censored the achievements of sophisticated African civilisations and plundered artefacts signifying their glory.

Outlining the different phases of development in Africa, Richardson writes that the colonialists imposed the contours of a continent onits people and told `Africans that they are Africans` another milestone in Europe`s invention of the world and the demarcation of continents and the naming of oceans, rivers, lakes and countries.

The revelation that humanity is all a massive global African diaspora and its rich history of cultural developments did not conform to the European empire`s `civilising mission.` To that end, there was a concerted `violent ... counter-factual` effort to edit, censor and annihilate the history of the African peoples.

Each of the essays is comprehensive on its own and the author hasn`t made any intentional effort to necessarily link them together.

Extensively and painstakingly cited and thorough, Myths of Geography is a book that leads one to rethink what the world could have been, had notions of ethnic and civilisational superiority not been a part of the mix. The book means to disturb one`s thoughts, to question established norms and to imagine a world map that looks very different. And it succeeds in doing so seamlessly.

But perhaps Richarson`s biggest achievement through this book is to declare `established` geographical notions as `myths` and successfully justify why he has deduced them to be so. In the process, he has upended deep-rooted assumptions, insisting that there is `nothing inevitable or even accurate about the geography on the maps and atlases of the world we have poured over since our schooldays.

The writer is aformer member of staff