American Geographical Society

Histoire de la Pensee Geographique en France (1872-1969) by Andre MeynierReview by: David J. M. HoosonGeographical Review, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Jul., 1971), pp. 459-460Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/213441 .

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

Internas, an experiment in frontier government that in the late eighteenth century largely separated several northern provinces from viceregal authority and placed them under their own military official, the comandante-general. The final thought Bannon leaves with his reader is that of two frontiers, the Spanish and the Anglo-American, mixing and mingling. Politically and militarily, the Anglo-Americans understandably triumphed, but the Spanish contribution is still seen in Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

This reviewer, though pleased with the book, nevertheless feels that some of the minor Indian campaigns could have been omitted with no real loss to the story. Also, characters are

occasionally introduced in the midst of their activities, with no explanation or identification.

Finally, readers will be grateful for the twelve maps prepared by Ronald L. Ives. Without them, the intricate geography of the borderlands would sometimes make the narrative hard to follow.-CHARLES E. NOWELL

HISTOIRE DE LA PENSEE GEOGRAPHIQUE EN FRANCE (1872-1969). By ANDRE MEYNIER. 224 pp.; bibliogr., index. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1969. 12 F. 64 x 412 inches.

Not too long ago it could be asserted with conviction that a man of culture belonged to at least two countries-his own and France. In some sense this held true for sensitive geographers of the past generation or two, but the dominant tendencies of the last twenty years have had the incidental effect of consigning the notion to at least partial oblivion. Therefore the appear- ance of this new book, which surveys a century's development of French geographical thought, is a timely and valuable reminder. Andre Meynier is well fitted for the task; he is

among the survivors of the Golden Age of French geography in the interwar period who are still active and vitally concerned with the contemporary problems that face the discipline.

However, it must be said at the outset that he suffers from the sin which besets French

geographers at least as much as others, the failure to place national trends and currents of

thought in their international context. To be fair, Meynier admits the deficiency and excuses himself on the grounds that in the small compass of his book 'what concerns France is already a very vast subject" and that "the geographer is perforce of his own times and of his own

country." This remains a pity, but the book is concise. readable, and reasonably comprehen- sive and follows the broad sweep of its particular national century with a good sense of

perspective and objectivity. The text is divided chronologically into three periods, each covering about a generation:

the beginnings, from 1872-1905; the "Time of Intuition," from 1905-1939; and the last

three decades, when cracks (craquements) seem to have manifested themselves in the apparently solid edifice of French geography. The year 1872 marked the beginning of geography teach-

ing in the French secondary schools, in the wake of the traumas of the Franco-German War, the Paris Commune, and the birth of the Third Republic. Throughout most of the early period, Paul Vidal de la Blache was teaching first at the Ecole Normale Superieure and then at the Sorbonne, but attention is also drawn to some of his notable contemporaries, such as the "extraoidinary," and little acknowledged, Elisee Reclus, Emile Levasseur, and Emmanuel de Margerie (others, such as Frederic Le Play, go unmentioned).

The "center-piece," dealing with the period when the authority of Vidal de la Blache or his immediate pupils (the oliganthropie) was absolute, is sympathetic without being a paean of praise, and here Meynier makes a number of interesting observations. The importance of

Internas, an experiment in frontier government that in the late eighteenth century largely separated several northern provinces from viceregal authority and placed them under their own military official, the comandante-general. The final thought Bannon leaves with his reader is that of two frontiers, the Spanish and the Anglo-American, mixing and mingling. Politically and militarily, the Anglo-Americans understandably triumphed, but the Spanish contribution is still seen in Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

This reviewer, though pleased with the book, nevertheless feels that some of the minor Indian campaigns could have been omitted with no real loss to the story. Also, characters are

occasionally introduced in the midst of their activities, with no explanation or identification.

Finally, readers will be grateful for the twelve maps prepared by Ronald L. Ives. Without them, the intricate geography of the borderlands would sometimes make the narrative hard to follow.-CHARLES E. NOWELL

HISTOIRE DE LA PENSEE GEOGRAPHIQUE EN FRANCE (1872-1969). By ANDRE MEYNIER. 224 pp.; bibliogr., index. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1969. 12 F. 64 x 412 inches.

Not too long ago it could be asserted with conviction that a man of culture belonged to at least two countries-his own and France. In some sense this held true for sensitive geographers of the past generation or two, but the dominant tendencies of the last twenty years have had the incidental effect of consigning the notion to at least partial oblivion. Therefore the appear- ance of this new book, which surveys a century's development of French geographical thought, is a timely and valuable reminder. Andre Meynier is well fitted for the task; he is

among the survivors of the Golden Age of French geography in the interwar period who are still active and vitally concerned with the contemporary problems that face the discipline.

However, it must be said at the outset that he suffers from the sin which besets French

geographers at least as much as others, the failure to place national trends and currents of

thought in their international context. To be fair, Meynier admits the deficiency and excuses himself on the grounds that in the small compass of his book 'what concerns France is already a very vast subject" and that "the geographer is perforce of his own times and of his own

country." This remains a pity, but the book is concise. readable, and reasonably comprehen- sive and follows the broad sweep of its particular national century with a good sense of

perspective and objectivity. The text is divided chronologically into three periods, each covering about a generation:

the beginnings, from 1872-1905; the "Time of Intuition," from 1905-1939; and the last

three decades, when cracks (craquements) seem to have manifested themselves in the apparently solid edifice of French geography. The year 1872 marked the beginning of geography teach-

ing in the French secondary schools, in the wake of the traumas of the Franco-German War, the Paris Commune, and the birth of the Third Republic. Throughout most of the early period, Paul Vidal de la Blache was teaching first at the Ecole Normale Superieure and then at the Sorbonne, but attention is also drawn to some of his notable contemporaries, such as the "extraoidinary," and little acknowledged, Elisee Reclus, Emile Levasseur, and Emmanuel de Margerie (others, such as Frederic Le Play, go unmentioned).

The "center-piece," dealing with the period when the authority of Vidal de la Blache or his immediate pupils (the oliganthropie) was absolute, is sympathetic without being a paean of praise, and here Meynier makes a number of interesting observations. The importance of

459 459

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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

intuition among these geographers derives partly from the general influence of the philoso- pher Henri Bergson but as much from the deliberate fostering of their individual literary temperaments. This accounts for the great variety, even contradictions, in the school that has often been presented as monolithic. Perhaps the most striking phenomenon was the

disproportionate importance of geomorphological research in Vidal's France, as in Davis's America or Wooldridge's England, and the surprising resilience of environmentalist assump- tions in the land of possibilism. On the other hand, there is no doubt about the distinctive force of the combination of regional and human geography which Vidal's actual works

express, and which has been carried to the present by people like Albert Demangeon and Maurice Le Lannou, with their focus on distribution of population, genre de vie, and l'homme- habitant.

Meynier's concluding analysis of the centrifugal forces in postwar French geography naturally strikes many a chord with the experience of other countries. The growth of spe- cialization is seen as a worrying challenge to the traditional unity of the subject. Meynier notes the rise of quantification, the drifting away of some of the physical specialisms, and the

increasing emphasis on the economic factor-never particularly prominent in traditional French geography. He goes to considerable length to trace the changes in geomorphology with the anti-Davisian reaction and the increasing importance of applied geography and its connections with the planning process.

If the story of French geography has some cautionary aspects for us, it still contains much that is inspiring for those attempting to absorb both the recent Theoretical Quantitative En-

lightenment and the even more recent Ecological Romantic Revival into the seasoned struc- ture of geographical thought. In the final sentence of the book Meynier, who is not much

given to quoting foreigners, opines that over the last century French "geographers have, consciously or not, made of geography, following Mackinder's formula, 'an art and a phi- losophy.'" The record of French achievements may yet give us the confidence to revive evocative description along with rigorous analysis, accurate subtleties along with mere pre- cision, understanding along with mere explanation, as we ponder the complex story of man as an inhabitant of the earth.-DAVID J. M. HOOSON

THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES OF NIGERIA, 1885-1960. by J. C. ANENE.

xxiii and 331 pp.; maps, bibliogrs., index. The Humanities Press, New York, 1970. $9.oo. 8 4x 5 4 inches.

This volume, the eighth in the useful Ibadan History Series, maintains the standards set by its

predecessors, though it was published posthumously; Professor Anene died during the civil war in Nigeria. The book is based on a doctoral thesis presented to the University of London in 1960, and its chief aim is to examine the commonly accepted view that the boundaries around Nigeria, drawn by Britain, France, and Germany, were mortally injurious to the

indigenous political order. The analysis is made in a logical manner. After an introductory chapter that deals with

the common criticisms of colonial boundaries and the categories of African frontiers, a second

chapter describes how the coastal termini and certain crucial turning points in the hinterland were selected. Anene graphically calls these points "anchorages." Certainly they figured significantly in the boundary discussions, and the British negotiators eventually managed to tie them together with international boundaries. On the coast, the western terminus near

intuition among these geographers derives partly from the general influence of the philoso- pher Henri Bergson but as much from the deliberate fostering of their individual literary temperaments. This accounts for the great variety, even contradictions, in the school that has often been presented as monolithic. Perhaps the most striking phenomenon was the

disproportionate importance of geomorphological research in Vidal's France, as in Davis's America or Wooldridge's England, and the surprising resilience of environmentalist assump- tions in the land of possibilism. On the other hand, there is no doubt about the distinctive force of the combination of regional and human geography which Vidal's actual works

express, and which has been carried to the present by people like Albert Demangeon and Maurice Le Lannou, with their focus on distribution of population, genre de vie, and l'homme- habitant.

Meynier's concluding analysis of the centrifugal forces in postwar French geography naturally strikes many a chord with the experience of other countries. The growth of spe- cialization is seen as a worrying challenge to the traditional unity of the subject. Meynier notes the rise of quantification, the drifting away of some of the physical specialisms, and the

increasing emphasis on the economic factor-never particularly prominent in traditional French geography. He goes to considerable length to trace the changes in geomorphology with the anti-Davisian reaction and the increasing importance of applied geography and its connections with the planning process.

If the story of French geography has some cautionary aspects for us, it still contains much that is inspiring for those attempting to absorb both the recent Theoretical Quantitative En-

lightenment and the even more recent Ecological Romantic Revival into the seasoned struc- ture of geographical thought. In the final sentence of the book Meynier, who is not much

given to quoting foreigners, opines that over the last century French "geographers have, consciously or not, made of geography, following Mackinder's formula, 'an art and a phi- losophy.'" The record of French achievements may yet give us the confidence to revive evocative description along with rigorous analysis, accurate subtleties along with mere pre- cision, understanding along with mere explanation, as we ponder the complex story of man as an inhabitant of the earth.-DAVID J. M. HOOSON

THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES OF NIGERIA, 1885-1960. by J. C. ANENE.

xxiii and 331 pp.; maps, bibliogrs., index. The Humanities Press, New York, 1970. $9.oo. 8 4x 5 4 inches.

This volume, the eighth in the useful Ibadan History Series, maintains the standards set by its

predecessors, though it was published posthumously; Professor Anene died during the civil war in Nigeria. The book is based on a doctoral thesis presented to the University of London in 1960, and its chief aim is to examine the commonly accepted view that the boundaries around Nigeria, drawn by Britain, France, and Germany, were mortally injurious to the

indigenous political order. The analysis is made in a logical manner. After an introductory chapter that deals with

the common criticisms of colonial boundaries and the categories of African frontiers, a second

chapter describes how the coastal termini and certain crucial turning points in the hinterland were selected. Anene graphically calls these points "anchorages." Certainly they figured significantly in the boundary discussions, and the British negotiators eventually managed to tie them together with international boundaries. On the coast, the western terminus near

460 460

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