Nicholas Crane

The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers hosts a regular Monday night lecture series, where members are invited to the Society’s Ondaatje Theatre to listen to speakers present on a diverse range of topics. In March 2019, former President of the Society, Nicolas Crane spoke on ‘The Age of Geography,’ giving a talk on his book ‘You Are Here: A Brief Guide to the World.’

One word binds us all: geography. We are all geographers, human beings who care about the places we think of as ‘home’ – our habitat. And yet we have lost touch with the connection between our actions and the state of the planet that we all share. We need a new narrative that restores the connections between humanity and the Earth.

We are being confronted by a daily barrage of geographical stories on climate change, geopolitics, population growth, migration, dwindling resources, polluted oceans and natural hazards. These are planetary concerns affecting all people and all places. They are challenges which can be addressed through geography.

In this distillation of a lifetime’s work, Nicholas Crane makes the compelling case that never has geography been so important. On this finite orb, with its battered habitat, sustained in dark space by a thin, life-giving atmosphere, we have reached a point in our collective geographical journey where knowledge is the best guarantor of the future.

Members of the Society can watch a recording of the talk here.

You Are Here: A Brief Guide to the World
Available from all good bookshops
ISBN: 978-1474608299