Nick Middleton

Acclaimed travel writer and Oxford geography don Nick Middleton takes us on a magical tour of countries that, lacking diplomatic recognition or UN membership, inhabit a world of shifting borders, visionary leaders and forgotten peoples.Most of us think we know what a country is, but in truth the concept is rather slippery. From Catalonia to the Crimea, and from Africa's last colony to the European republic that enjoyed just a solitary day of independence, the places in this book may lie on the margins of legitimacy, but all can be visited in the real world.Beautifully illustrated by fifty regional maps, each shadowy country is literally cut out of the page of this book. Alongside stories, facts and figures, An Atlas of Countries That Don't Exist brings to life a dreamlike world of nations that exist only in the minds of the people who live there.

A Compendium of 50 Unrecognised and Largely Unnoticed States

An Atlas of Countries That Don't Exist

What makes people believe in vaccination against bullets, or in cannabalistic hitmen who cruise the night skies on bat-back? Nick Middleton travelled to Mozambique to find out.

Travels in Mozambique

Kalashnikovs and Zombie Cucumbers

Preface; 1 Desert Climates; 2 Desert Landscapes; 3 The Nature of Deserts; 4 People and Deserts; 5 Deserts Connections.

Deserts: A Very Short Introduction

Nick Middleton returns to pit himself against the four most extreme environments on the planet in this paperback edition of the successful Surviving Extremes.The intrepid Oxford don, explorer and author of Going to Extremes is back, and he's set himself a challenge to cope with the worst that nature can throw at him in Surviving Extremes. Travelling to four of the most extreme natural environments: swamps, deserts, jungles and arctic wastelands, the question is, can he pick up enough tips from the indigenous people to hack it at the very edge of human existence, or will his mid latitude sensibilities forever let him down? This is Nick's account of how he had to put his body and mind to the test in a unique survival experiment. Praise for Going to Extremes: 'A brilliant read... that illustrated the strong will and determination of man in the face of everything that nature had to throw at us' Wanderlust 'Loveably insane Oxford geography professor Nick Middleton... has something of the amateur Victorian explorer about him... a compelling and hilarious look at one of man's lunatic obsessions' The Sunday Times

Ice, Jungle, Sand and Swamp

Surviving Extremes

This new edition of the Global Casino has been fully updated and redesigned in colour. It is the essential introduction to environmental issues linking the physical environment to the political, social and economic contexts in which these issues occur.

An Introduction to Environmental Issues

The Global Casino: An Introduction to Environmental Issues, Fourth Edition

In a modern rendition of the Grand tour of Europe, Nick Middleton set out to seek the truth behind the myths we British like to propogate about our European neighbours..... The Belgians are boring, the French eat nothing but Frogs legs and garlic and the Germans are officious and efficient. He followeda trail of contemporary sights and experiences that every well rounded Eurocitizen should encounter think of the British and to see how different or alike we all are now that we are linked by a common market.

Travels as a Brussels Scout

This book is an introduction to environmental issues which deals both with the workings of the physical environment and the political, economic and social frameworks in which the issues occur. It is about the human impact on the environment and the ways in which the natural environment impacts human society. Using examples from all over the world, Middleton highlights the underlying causes behind environmental problems, the human actions which have made them issues, and the hopes for solutions. Completely revised and updated to include the latest research findings and a range of new case studies, the organization of the book allows it to be read in its entirety or dipped into for any particular topic, since each chapter stands on its own. Each chapter sets the issue in an historical context, outlines why the issue has arisen, highlights areas of controversy and uncertainty, and appraises how problems are being and can be resolved both technically and in political and economic frameworks. The chapters are followed by an expanded critical guide to further reading and a new guide to relevant sites on the worldwide web, as well as a new series of discussion points and an expanded glossary.

The Global Casino

Designed for advanced level secondary students, this geography text studies desertification, the encroachment of arable land by desert which threatens an estimated 35% of the Earth's land surface. It explains the causes of desertification, how it can be measured and combatted, and questions whether the situation is actually happening at the scale suggested. The author focuses on questions that have made desertification a major issue, and highlights the difficulties involved in dealing with such a broad-scale physical and social topic. Case study material and exercises are included in the text.

Desertification

The Southern States of America, as seen through the eyes of a typical Brit. From the imported sands of Miami Beach to the antebellum mansions of Savannah, the Southern States are a breeding ground of miscegenation, racial hatred, great movies and political giants.

A Saunter Through the Southern States

Ice Tea and Elvis

Deserts make up a third of the planet's land surface, but if you picture a desert, what comes to mind? A wasteland? A drought? A place devoid of all life forms? Deserts are remarkable places. Typified by drought and extremes of temperature, they can be harsh and hostile; but many deserts are also spectacularly beautiful, and on occasion teem with life. Nick Middleton explores how each desert is unique: through fantastic life forms, extraordinary scenery, and ingenious human adaptations. He demonstrates a desert's immense natural beauty, its rich biodiversity, and uncovers a long history of successful human occupation. This Very Short Introduction tells you everything you ever wanted to know about these extraordinary places and captures their importance in the working of our planet. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

'A brilliant read... that illustrated the strong will and determination of man in the face of everything that nature had to throw at us' Wanderlust Nick Middleton, the intrepid Oxford don, explorer and author of Going to Extremes is back, and he's set himself a challenge to cope with the worst that nature can throw at him in Surviving Extremes. Travelling to four of the most extreme natural environments: swamps, deserts, jungles and arctic wastelands, the question is, can he pick up enough tips from the indigenous people to hack it at the very edge of human existence, or will his mid latitude sensibilities forever let him down? This is Nick's account of how he had to put his body and mind to the test in a unique survival experiment.

Humans have a remarkable knack for surviving harsh environments. But how do people really endure the world's most remote and inhospitable landscapes, where nature still reigns and where the physical geography is raw and unforgiving? In Extremes, renowned geographer and travel writer Nick Middleton puts his body and mind to the test in an attempt to find the answer. His mission is to learn how to cope with four especially horrendous habitats. Through arctic wasteland, jungle, desert, and swamp, Nick pits himself against the elements and explains the geographical conditions that conspire to produce the world's harshest ecologies. He also discovers the various human quirks that people have evolved to make life at the edge bearable. In northern Greenland, Nick joins a group of Inuits hunting for narwhal, crucial to the group's survival, on the edge of fragile sea ice, while in the jungle he ventures into Congo's tropical forest, home of the Biaka pygmies. He joins the annual crossing of the Tenere desert by the women of the Tubu tribe to collect dates and then travels to Papua, one of the least explored places on earth, to find the Kombai people, a remote group of tree house dwellers above the Asmat region's flood plain. Extremes is Nick Middleton's amazing account of four of the most unwelcoming environments on earth. Can he pick up enough tips from the indigenous people of these locations to hack it at the very edge of human existence, or will his mid-latitude sensibilities forever let him down?

Surviving the World's Harshest Environments

Extremes

Rejsebeskrivelser fra to besøg i Det Ydre Mongoli

The Last Disco in Outer Mongolia

The Global Casino is an introduction to environmental issues which deals both with the workings of the physical environment and with the political, economic and social frameworks in which the issues occur. Using examples from all over the world, the book highlights the underlying causes behind environmental problems, the human actions which have made them issues, and the hopes for solutions. It is a book about the human impact on the environment and the ways in which the natural environment impacts human society. The sixth edition has been fully revised and updated throughout, with new case studies, figures, and online resources including a complete lecture course for tutors and multiple-choice questions for students. New concepts and topics covered for the first time in this edition include the green economy, the forest transition model, marine microplastic pollution, urban disasters, decommissioning of big dams, and the start of the Anthropocene. Recent international initiatives covered include the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and the Sendai Framework for managing disaster risk. New case studies include Morocco’s Noor concentrated solar power plant, desert recovery in Kuwait, and river management on the Huang Ho. Eighteen chapters on key issues follow three initial chapters which outline the background contexts of the physical and human environments and the concept of sustainable development. Each chapter provides historical context for key issues, outlines why they have arisen, and highlights areas of controversy and uncertainty to appraise how issues can be resolved both technically and in political and economic frameworks. Each chapter also contains an updated critical guide to further reading – many of them open access – and websites, as well as discussion points and essay questions. The text can be read in its entirety or individual chapters adopted as standalone reading. This book is an essential resource for students of the environment, geography, earth sciences and development studies. It provides comprehensive and inspirational coverage of all the major global environmental issues of the day in a style that is clear and critical.

The Silk Road is the fabled route that cuts through one of the most extraordinary tracts of land on this planet. A vast region separating China from the Mediterranean, it rates as one of the least hospitable on Earth – a succession of hostile deserts and towering mountain ranges, a harsh terrain of howling winds, searing heat and blistering cold. No stranger to unforgiving territory, Nick Middleton follows in the footsteps of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo overland from China to Istanbul, surviving as they did the life-sapping Gobi desert, the icy passes of high altitude Tibet, and the great Steppes of Turkmenistan, and encounters those who eke out existences there today. Nick's great gift as an adventure writer is to weave together the personal experience of ridiculous endurance - from sleeping on steaming rocks in the middle of a sub-zero desert to eating the most dubiously-cooked local delicacies - with the bigger picture of our planet and its peoples.

Adventures Off the World's Oldest Superhighway

Extremes Along the Silk Road

In Going to Extremes writer, presenter and Oxford geography don Nick Middleton visits Oymyakon in Siberia, where the average winter temperature is -47 degrees and 40% of the population have lost their fingers to frostbite while changing the car wheel. Next he travels to Arica Chile where there have been fourteen consecutive years without a drop of rain and so fog is people's only source of water. Going from the driest to the wettest, he visits Mawsynram in India which annually competes for the title with its neighbour Cherrapunji. However, Nick discovers even here, that during the dry season, there is water shortage and one entrepreneur has started selling it bottled. Finally his journey takes him to Dalol in Ethiopia known as the 'hell hole of creation' where the temperature remains at 94 degrees year round. Here Nick will join miners who work all day with no shade, limited water and no protective clothing. The book and series consider how and why people lives in these harsh environments. How does Nick's body react to these contrasting extremes? He looks at the geographical and meteorological conditions. He meets local characters and discovers the history of these settlements to find out how they ever became populated. He looks at the way both the population, and the flora and fauna, have adapted physically to the climate, and also considers the psychological impact of living under such conditions.

Going to Extremes

The Global Casino is an introduction to environmental issues which deals both with the workings of the physical environment and the political, economic and social frameworks in which the issues occur. Using examples from all over the world, the book highlights the underlying causes behind environmental problems, the human actions which have made them issues, and the hopes for solutions. It is a book about the human impact on the environment and the ways in which the natural environment impacts human society. The fifth edition has been fully revised and updated throughout, with new case studies, figures, and online resources such as downloadable figures and tables from the text and multiple choice questions for students, accessible at: www.routledge.com/cw/middleton. New topics covered in extended boxed case studies include payment for environmental services, ocean acidification, biofuels in Brazil, waste reduction through industrial symbiosis, and the long-term impact of natural disasters on vulnerable groups. Other approaches and concepts covered for the first time in this new edition include traditional ecological knowledge, environmental justice, the ‘resource curse’, and urban biodiversity. Eighteen chapters on key issues follow three initial chapters which outline the background contexts of the physical and human environments and the concept of sustainable development. Each chapter provides historical context for key issues, outlines why they have arisen, and highlights areas of controversy and uncertainty to appraise how issues can be resolved both technically and in political and economic frameworks. Each chapter also contains an updated critical guide to further reading and websites, as well as discussion points and essay questions. The text can be read in its entirety or individual chapters adopted as standalone reading. The Global Casino is an essential resource for students of the environment, geography, earth sciences and development studies. It provides comprehensive and inspirational coverage of all the major global environmental issues of the day in a style that is clear and critical.

The Global Casino, Fifth Edition

Rivers have played an extraordinarily important role in creating the world in which we live. They create landscapes and provide water to people, plants and animals, nourishing both town and country. The flow of rivers has enthused poets and painters, explorers and pilgrims. Rivers have acted as cradles for civilization and agents of disaster; a river may be a barrier or a highway, it can bear trade and sediment, culture and conflict. A river may inspire or it may terrify. This Very Short Introduction is a celebration of rivers in all their diversity. Nick Middleton covers a wide and eclectic range of river-based themes, from physical geography to mythology, to industrial history and literary criticism. Worshipped and revered, respected and feared, rivers reflect both the natural and social history of our planet. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Nick Middleton

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