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American Geographical Society The Capital City: A Step in Its Interpretation The Great Capitals: An Historical Geography by Vaughan Cornish Geographical Review, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1924), pp. 156-157 Published by: American Geographical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/208363 . Accessed: 09/05/2014 13:23 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . American Geographical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Geographical Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 169.229.32.138 on Fri, 9 May 2014 13:23:28 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: The Capital City: A Step in Its Interpretation

American Geographical Society

The Capital City: A Step in Its InterpretationThe Great Capitals: An Historical Geography by Vaughan CornishGeographical Review, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1924), pp. 156-157Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/208363 .

Accessed: 09/05/2014 13:23

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

American Geographical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toGeographical Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.138 on Fri, 9 May 2014 13:23:28 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: The Capital City: A Step in Its Interpretation

GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

THE CAPITAL CITY: A STEP IN ITS INTERPRETATION

VAUGHAN CORNISH. The Great Capitals: An Historical Geography. xii and 296 pp.; maps, index. Methuen & Co., Ltd., London; George H. Doran Co., New York, [1922,] 9 x 52 inches.

The new point of view and the new method of treatment are always productive of arresting work. Dr. Cornish presents a book that just falls short of being a monograph. He endeavors to prove that great capitals occupy strategically forward sites with reference to empire and positions within the empire which lie in natural storehouses, at dominant crossroads, or at places which are natural strongholds. The position may have any combination of these advantages; but the forward site is believed to be characteristic, while the stronghold is of least relative importance. So much is explained in the preface. The book takes up the re- view of the great capitals of Eurasia, the United States, and the Inca Empire, from the earliest times to the present day. Each capital is presented as an illustration of the thesis, so that the reader sees the proof, as the author says in his preface, not in the argument but in history. The book is hard reading, and to read it intelligently a reference atlas is indispensable; one would also like to have at hand a series of historical volumes, for the author assumes that his audience has the necessary background of historical knowledge. But it is fascinating reading. If the task seems formidable let the reader turn first to the "easy" sections on the capitals of Holland and Denmark. They will create an appetite for the whole book.

The Great Capital is not explicitly defined, but we take it to be the directive center of the state that establishes power. Dr. Cornish undoubtedly proves his argument for the period of active operations which lead up to the consolidation of empire. His method of thought throughout, consistent with some of his previous contributions to geography, is that of a campaigning strategist. The capital is General Headquarters, and its functions are to con- duct conquest and to maintain consolidated power. G. H. Q. keeps up with the advance and occupies positions that either provide it directly with means of subsistence or enable it to get them with comparative ease. When empire is established, G. H. Q. confronts the most important neighbor of questionable behavior. The regularity with which the author pro- duces capital after capital fulfilling exactly these requirements is astonishing.

We feel, however, that the argument is incomplete. The world seems to have entered a new phase of occupation, involving a fixation of established foundations. The great cities of Europe and the colonial foundations overseas, be they capitals or not, are communities of baffling complexity and have established relative stability of status. The Great War dis- placed no capital in spite of the wholesale dismemberment in central Europe. Vienna and Budapest are going to live. The only capitals seriously affected are Petrograd and Prague. The former, an artificial foundation, is assuming natural proportions, and its fall can hardly be said to have added much to the ancient prestige of Moscow. Dr. Cornish approaches a realization of the deeply buried and almost intangible geographical'causes which underlie the existence of cities-capital or other--in his uncertainty about Saxon London and modern Madrid.

London was not used as a capital in Saxon times. Dr. Cornish is at a loss to account for its historical eclipse and the fact that it "never surrendered unconditionally to the Saxon tribes." In his discussion of London, however, his interest centers on the minor considerations of the site rather than the major ones of its position. Little though we know of the town at this time, it seems that London was alive and well, with a mind of its own, and strong enough to stand beside the principalities of the time as an equal, as the author hints. But the geographical foundation of this strength is not studied. Madrid also is regarded as an anomaly. It is suggested, first, that the capital would be better placed in the forward mari- time position of Seville and, again, that the decadence of Spain may be due to the failure to place it there. Seville as the capital of Spain would resemble Athens, but the maintenance of Athens has not prevented the decay of Greece. The Spaniards have preferred Madrid for over three and a half centuries, but the author does not investigate their reasons.

I56

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Page 3: The Capital City: A Step in Its Interpretation

GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

If the simple principle advanced holds true for all capitals, we should expect to be able to trace its influence on the capitals of the Balkan states during the twentieth century wars. Sofia is the only Balkan capital receiving more than mention; Athens (surely a great capital), Oporto, Brussels, Prague, Cracow, and Helsingfors too receive inadequate treatment or none at all: yet a very clear account is given of the early Scottish capitals in the district of Perth.

Dr. Cornish is prone to refer to the immediate region of the capital as the "metropolitan" region. Herein lies confusion. The metropolis is not necessarily the capital. Antwerp, Hamburg, and Liverpool are metropolitan (economic) units but are not capitals. In the United States indeed, with the exception of Boston, the Twin Cities, and possibly Atlanta, no metropolis has even the honor of being a state capital.

"The Isothermal Frontier of Ancient Cities," dealt with at some length in the volume, seems to us to require rigorous test before acceptance. The evidence produced is attractive, but it is impossible, as yet, to say what influences are diagnostic in city geography. When a large number of varied quantitative data have been collected and analyzed, the diagnostic influences (if they exist) for particular grades of cities may appear. The map of the ap- parent isothermal frontier is brilliant and tempting, but it is the application of a selected condition rather than the revelation of order. One would like to know, for example, if the cities on the isotherm were comparable in population. When the author applies the principle to the Inca Empire, the test of three examples (one of them a modern city) is quite in- adequate. Little is known of the density distribution of the ruling race. Though the Incas were builders they were not great city builders and assumptions based on their ex- tension of empire involve subject peoples and a wide range of conditions.

The references, for a work of such scope, are few and not the ones the unlearned in history would wish for. No reference is made to any modern contributions to human geography or its branch of city geography. There is a regrettable absence of maps and a fairly liberal number of typographical errors. The seventeen page index is admirable.

Altogether, the work is suggestive and stimulating and should take its place as a standard of reference on a limited phase of city geography. It is a style of treatment unusual in the English language. Should a second edition be forthcoming, we hope to see the principle applied to the Caliphates and Egypt; indeed to the whole of Africa, to the British Dominions, and exhaustively to Europe.

THE BRITISH IN TROPICAL AFRICA

F. D. LUGARD. The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa. xxi and 643 pp.; index. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1922. 8% x 5Y/ inches.

Written with a wealth of experience gained as High Commissioner and Commander in Chief of Northern Nigeria (I900-1906) and as Governor General of Nigeria (I914-I919) and with years of previous service in Nyasaland, East Africa, and Uganda, this volume is invaluable not merely as an account of the development of Nigeria but also because of its sane and practical counsels for the future, applicable to colonial administration throughout tropical Africa. Its several chapters deal with the acquisition of the British African tropics and with their status and conditions, the principles governing control in the tropics and their populations, general principles of administration and its machinery, the British staffs, the home government and the dependencies, methods of ruling native races, taxation, land tenure and transfer, slavery, labor, education, transport, trade, economic development, law and courts of justice, the problems of self-government, armed forces, missions, and intoxicants, and the value of British rule in the tropics to British democracy and to the native races.

The student of geography, particularly in its economic aspects, can scarcely fail to read Sir Frederick's work, for, although one "may regard the future of Africa for some decades to come as chiefly concerned with the development of her agricultural, pastoral, and mineral resources" (p. 510), the possibilities of her growth must not be left wholly out of account. (These matters are fully discussed in G. L. Beer's "African Questions at the Paris Peace Conference," reviewed below.) Climatically, however, and contrary to early expectations tropical Africa has proved, for the most part, uncolonizable by Europeans, though much may be accomplished by close attention to housing, water supply, physical exercise, and medical service.

If the simple principle advanced holds true for all capitals, we should expect to be able to trace its influence on the capitals of the Balkan states during the twentieth century wars. Sofia is the only Balkan capital receiving more than mention; Athens (surely a great capital), Oporto, Brussels, Prague, Cracow, and Helsingfors too receive inadequate treatment or none at all: yet a very clear account is given of the early Scottish capitals in the district of Perth.

Dr. Cornish is prone to refer to the immediate region of the capital as the "metropolitan" region. Herein lies confusion. The metropolis is not necessarily the capital. Antwerp, Hamburg, and Liverpool are metropolitan (economic) units but are not capitals. In the United States indeed, with the exception of Boston, the Twin Cities, and possibly Atlanta, no metropolis has even the honor of being a state capital.

"The Isothermal Frontier of Ancient Cities," dealt with at some length in the volume, seems to us to require rigorous test before acceptance. The evidence produced is attractive, but it is impossible, as yet, to say what influences are diagnostic in city geography. When a large number of varied quantitative data have been collected and analyzed, the diagnostic influences (if they exist) for particular grades of cities may appear. The map of the ap- parent isothermal frontier is brilliant and tempting, but it is the application of a selected condition rather than the revelation of order. One would like to know, for example, if the cities on the isotherm were comparable in population. When the author applies the principle to the Inca Empire, the test of three examples (one of them a modern city) is quite in- adequate. Little is known of the density distribution of the ruling race. Though the Incas were builders they were not great city builders and assumptions based on their ex- tension of empire involve subject peoples and a wide range of conditions.

The references, for a work of such scope, are few and not the ones the unlearned in history would wish for. No reference is made to any modern contributions to human geography or its branch of city geography. There is a regrettable absence of maps and a fairly liberal number of typographical errors. The seventeen page index is admirable.

Altogether, the work is suggestive and stimulating and should take its place as a standard of reference on a limited phase of city geography. It is a style of treatment unusual in the English language. Should a second edition be forthcoming, we hope to see the principle applied to the Caliphates and Egypt; indeed to the whole of Africa, to the British Dominions, and exhaustively to Europe.

THE BRITISH IN TROPICAL AFRICA

F. D. LUGARD. The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa. xxi and 643 pp.; index. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1922. 8% x 5Y/ inches.

Written with a wealth of experience gained as High Commissioner and Commander in Chief of Northern Nigeria (I900-1906) and as Governor General of Nigeria (I914-I919) and with years of previous service in Nyasaland, East Africa, and Uganda, this volume is invaluable not merely as an account of the development of Nigeria but also because of its sane and practical counsels for the future, applicable to colonial administration throughout tropical Africa. Its several chapters deal with the acquisition of the British African tropics and with their status and conditions, the principles governing control in the tropics and their populations, general principles of administration and its machinery, the British staffs, the home government and the dependencies, methods of ruling native races, taxation, land tenure and transfer, slavery, labor, education, transport, trade, economic development, law and courts of justice, the problems of self-government, armed forces, missions, and intoxicants, and the value of British rule in the tropics to British democracy and to the native races.

The student of geography, particularly in its economic aspects, can scarcely fail to read Sir Frederick's work, for, although one "may regard the future of Africa for some decades to come as chiefly concerned with the development of her agricultural, pastoral, and mineral resources" (p. 510), the possibilities of her growth must not be left wholly out of account. (These matters are fully discussed in G. L. Beer's "African Questions at the Paris Peace Conference," reviewed below.) Climatically, however, and contrary to early expectations tropical Africa has proved, for the most part, uncolonizable by Europeans, though much may be accomplished by close attention to housing, water supply, physical exercise, and medical service.

I57 I57

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.138 on Fri, 9 May 2014 13:23:28 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions