Contemporary Human Geography

by James M. Rubenstein

Contemporary Human Geography is a beautifully crafted, modular springboard into essential human and cultural geography concepts, designed for the contemporary geography student. This brief, innovative text explores current human geography in the bold visual style that distinguishes Dorling Kindersley (DK) publications. Topics within each chapter are organized into modular, self-contained, two-page spreads. Together with the graphics, Rubenstein’s efficient writing engages students, presenting information clearly without sacrificing the high-quality geography content essential to students and instructors.

Genres: Nonfiction, Geography

355 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

James M. Rubenstein is a geographer, known for his work on human geography and specifically on the U.S. automotive industry. Currently, he is Professor of Geography at Miami University in Oxford OH. He also works as consultant in the research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Rubenstein obtained his B.A. in public affairs from the University of Chicago, his M.Sc. in city and regional planning from the London School of Economics, and his Ph.D. in geography and human engineering from the Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews

[Juliana Crotta-Cox]

Yeah yeah yeah, this is a textbook. But you know what? I’m counting it, because I read every single word cover to cover.

(Please pray that this content was encoded into my long term memory)

[indigo ྀི · Rating 2 out of 5]

AP hug test is over 😍😍 hopefully this will have helped me pass

[Melissa Kidd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bright and colorful book. When I first opened it I was almost daunted by all the little text boxes and visuals all over the pages. It made a very cramped page. However once I started reading the textbook as a supplement to my geography class lectures, the visuals helped immensely. I like to learn visually so all the charts, maps, and photos helped me retain the information I was reading. The content helped too. I didn't think I would be that interesting in geography but it turns out the information is really fascinating. There were all kinds of topics in this book: development, political geography, human services, food industries, populations, ethnicities, etc. There is a ton here, all about humans. And most things about humans are fascinating in my opinion. The text was very easy to read and the sections short, only two pages. Although the sections were short I didn't feel I was missing much. There was a lot covered here, all of it relevant. I'm glad I took the class, and I'm glad I read this book. It opened my eyes even wider to the wide world.

[Leah Markum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good introductory text to human dimensions of geography. As a hardcore geography nerd this book is oversimplified, but it's not thick, so it's more of an abridged text. It surveys all the subtopics in human geography and takes a visual approach with plenty of pictures and diagrams that tickle one's curiosity. It's also easy to understand for anyone that has difficulty with social sciences. (Strange thought, but they are out there and there's nothing wrong with that.) True to geography, as opposed to another social science, the visuals and descriptions cater to spatial understanding i.e. regional and thematic maps, linguistic trees, etc.

If I had little understanding of human geography beforehand I would give four stars. As it is I give a three because the book is too simple for someone serious in the subject.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook for my Human Geography class. I learned quite a bit from the book, and the class itself was enjoyable. The professor, on the other hand, was a menace. I'm glad the faculty picked this book, I believe it was the only reason I learned anything about this subject. It's set up like any other DK book, paragraphs of information broken up by diagrams, maps, and photos to help you understand the subject. The book is interesting enough to be read on its own, and the chapters are fairly quick reads. I really enjoyed it.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would be impossible to incorporate all things human geography into one text, but I think this text does a great job of grazing all of the important elements. I really enjoyed the layout of the text.