Peninsulas: A Geography of Almost Islands

“This fascinating book brings together a wonderfully diverse array of essays on peninsulas of widely varying scale and geographical location. Drawing on examples from the Antarctic peninsula to Alaska, and from Ceuta to the Deccan plateau, the book successfully illustrates the complex and dynamic interplay of physical landscape and human societies. With its trans-disciplinary scholarship, this book provides many interesting insights into the nature and importance of ‘almost islands’ –” Heather A. Viles, Professor of Biogeomorphology and Heritage Conservation, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. “Peninsulas have been oddly neglected by researchers. While the fields of Island Studies and Island Biogeography have produced extensive material on their objects of inquiry, the ‘inbetweeness’ of peninsulas – as neither islands nor mainlands – has led them to be overlooked as distinct physical and geo-social entities. This excellent volume addresses this situation by providing insightful case studies of particular locations through which peninsulas can be understood and characterised. In itself, this volume is a valuable scholarly resource, and it is likely to be impactful in stimulating further research on peninsularity.” Philip Hayward, University of British Columbia, Canada and editor of Shima “This book offers an impressive, multi-disciplinary body of evidence to support the notion that peninsulas are sufficiently distinctive landform units, thus warranting special consideration. The 17 peninsular cases discussed in this volume come in different sizes and from different climatic zones. Nevertheless, they demonstrate that peninsulas share a complex relationship with the surrounding sea and the mainland to which they are attached. Peninsulas: A Geography of Almost Islands offers an innovative perspective on an important geographical landform. The book will be of particular interest to human/ cultural geographers, as well as a wider audience interested in the impact of geographical constraints on human activity and development.” Alan Trenhaile, Professor of Geography at the University of Windsor, Canada “Peninsulas: A Geography of Almost Islands offers the first comprehensive exploration of the world’s great “almost islands,” revealing how these distinctive landforms shape the cultures, histories and politics of the societies that occupy them. Bringing together case studies from every continent, the book shows how peninsulas embody a creative tension between connection of land and the separation of sea. This unique spatial condition influences everything from identity to economic development in ways that echoes islands but which remains starkly different. From Europe’s to Eurasia, to the divisions of Korea, to the engineered transformations of Corinth and Prince Edward Island, each chapter illuminates how peninsula geography constrains options, shapes choices, and subtly constructs narratives. With contributions from leading scholars across disciplines, the volume reframes peninsulas as dynamic spaces where landscapes, borders, and imaginations converge, as places where geography truly matters.” Rob Inkpen, Principal Lecturer in Geography, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom “Peninsulas: A Geography of Almost Islands is the first comprehensive volume on the nature of the Peninsula. This is a book whose fascinating case studies offer a global review of the topic, penned by a cadre of disciplinary specialists, illustrating how domestic politics, tense international relations, and ambitious engineering projects are nuanced by ‘almost islands’. To me – and, I hope, to many others - this text is a welcome addition to my knowledge base: I had never thought of the importance of peninsulas from this angle. The volume will be a worthwhile read for those students, geographers, planners and politicians worldwide, trying to come to grips with peninsulas.” Sunil Kumar De, 9th President of the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG), 2022–2026.