Freedom matters. “The Industrial Revolution didn’t suddenly happen in England. For centuries, all of Europe had been increasing its pace of innovation. The printing press eventually led to the Enlightenment, which catalyzed the scientific revolution. The greater freedom in regions… Read More »A Brief History of the UK
When you are bored… “Imagine you’re Portugal. It’s 1249. You’ve been fighting Muslims for 500 years (and a few Christian neighbors too), and this year you finally reach the southern coast after conquering the Algarve region. You’re done with your… Read More »A Brief History of Portugal
It is simple. “If you’re a pirate—or a competing European power—and you want to get your hands on that wealth, you’re going to attack the weakest points between Veracruz and Spain. If you’re Spain, you want to protect the loot… Read More »A Brief History of the Caribbean
Deserts are bad. “Crossing the Sahara by land was impossible. The desert is massive. Miles and miles of nothing. The distance to cross it was just too great. The only way through it was through the Nile, but even then… Read More »Why Europeans Colonized America Before Africa
Mountains and passes and power. “These two passes, the one through Carcassonne and the other through the Rhône Valley, are the only two flat connections between the Northern European Plain and the Mediterranean. The ramifications have defined the power of… Read More »How to Understand France
So true. “Geography and history shouldn’t be memorized. They should be understood.” https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/why-did-vikings-appear-out-of-nowhere
Bad luck. “Did you know that one of the oldest cities ever discovered, and the oldest one in Europe, is in Ukraine?” https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/why-isnt-ukraine-a-global-superpower
Geography at work again. “Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria are all in the Levant, a region that isn’t populated enough to become dominant, but is surrounded by superpowers.” https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/what-is-happening-in-syria
Volcanoes can be good. “And this is not just a story of “there are plenty of people in Asia”. Java has a bigger population than Japan! Even by Asian standards, Java is just extremely densely populated.” https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/why-is-java-so-weird
This is mo longer as clear. “Historically, the biggest driver of the number of people that could live in a specific area—the density of people—was food per acre: If one acre can produce a lot of food, it can feed… Read More »A Science of Cities