Britain on the Edge of Europe by M. Chisholm; M. ChisolmReview by: David SadlerArea, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Jun., 1996), p. 244Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20003669 .

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244 Book reviews

non-expert might not approve of the technical language, but it is, perhaps, a small price to pay for a work of this standard, for the authors are writing about the latest research tools and

methods, often using sources that were unheard of 25 years ago. At the same time, it is useful to know the cost of satellite images and where to buy them-and astonishing to discover that new surveying marker nails, driven into the lava, are stolen by tourists on Etna (surely not the work of the Honoured Society?).

Geographers will probably find the last three chapters of most direct interest where the results of monitoring are applied to forecasting eruptions. However, in spite of all the recent progress in monitoring, forecasts are not always accurate. Ground deformation round Pozzuoli in the Bay of Naples in 1969-72 and 1982-84 has not (yet) been followed by an eruption. It is also salutary to recall that over a dozen expert volcanologists have been killed by erupting volcanoes since 1980.

A. Scarth Paris

Britain on the edge of Europe by M. Chisholm London: Routledge, 1995, 182 pp, ?12.99 paperback ISBN 0 415 11921 9

This book sets out with a proposition that ' Britain suffers serious economic disadvantage from its position on the geographical periphery of Europe' (12), and then proceeds systematically to destroy it. After an analysis of changing trade patterns between Britain and Europe, the account reviews literature first on the impacts of distance on trade, and then on economic integration and trade within the European Union (EU). Chapter five looks at regional growth patterns within the EU, interpreted in terms of a contrast between cumulative causation and neo-classical perspectives. The focus then returns to Britain, with an examination of variations in transport costs within the country, followed by an account of changing flows of trade and passenger traffic through Britain's ports and airports. This concludes that ' the reorientation of Britain's economic ties towards Europe does not translate directly and simply into a concen tration of traffic on the South East ' (148). Chapter eight investigates (in admittedly speculative fashion) the potential impact of the Channel Tunnel on the costs of interaction between Britain and the rest of Europe, suggesting that the tunnel ' is not going to make a huge difference to the national economy or even, probably, to differential regional fortunes' (166). The book closes with a two-page concluding statement which is effectively a summary of the central thesis.

This is an odd text, with a curiously dated air of gravity models, core-periphery theories and distance decay effects. It just about achieves the objective of demonstrating that physical location within Europe is not responsible for Britain's economic decline. In its own terms the argument might perhaps have been strengthened by analysis of data on services, which are excluded from consideration by Chisholm on the grounds that the international service sector (whatever that is) is less sensitive to distance costs than trade in commodities and

manufactured goods. Yet one has to ask, should the central conclusion of the book actually come as any great surprise? At its very simplest, physical location did not seem to be too much of a problem for the British economy in the nineteenth century. More significantly, the reader of this account will look almost in vain for reference to quite long-established debates on the causes and consequences of internationalisation of production within Europe (via direct foreign investment and joint ventures, for instance). The focus remains firmly on national economies and trade balances rather than on corporate strategies, whilst other subsequent and important work on European regional development processes is conspicuous by its absence.

The book should best be seen as an argument in favour of Britain's more willing political engagement with the EU. It disproves the initial hypothesis, even if that in itself was somewhat surprising starting point. Surely though, geography has more to offer in the debate on uneven development in Europe?

David Sadler University of Durham

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