The Ways of the World is a collection of essays from David Harvey that span his career and presents a wonderful overview of his thought over the past 50 years or so. The rating I am giving is as much for this being an essential selection of his essays in one volume as it an opinion on his actual essays.

To considerably over simplify this collection I will say that these essays present critiques of capitalism, class, justice, globalization and much more through a Marxist lens and a geographical perspective. If you confuse Marxism with communism as presented in various communist states then you may want to brush up on the difference before reading these essays. That said, it can be surprising to realize just how much of capitalism's harm can be viewed through geography. Not physical geography so much but human geography.

These critiques address larger issues through looking at specific events such as strikes, buildings and product displacement. Sometimes looking at the hows and whys behind something requires more than simply understanding the marketplace or supply and demand, it requires understanding what is being changed on the local level and who is being adversely affected by these changes. Harvey does this and presents data to support his assessments and a strong theoretical foundation on which he builds his critiques.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in human geography, Marxist critiques of capitalisms old and new as well as social justice and equality. The read is not one to breeze through but should be readily accessible to any reader who has an interest in the area. Readers who already appreciate Harvey will also like this collection for the simple reason it collects some of his most cited essays into one convenient location.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.