The purpose of the book is to introduce students to the breadth and spatial insights of the field of geography. The content is organized around the four major research traditions of the discipline: those of earth science, culture-environment, location, and area analysis. Each of the four parts of the book centres on one of these perspectives. The first three parts contain chapters devoted to the subfields of geography. The tradition of area analysis (regional geography) is presented in a single final chapter, "the regional concept", that draws upon the preceding traditions and themes and is integrated with them by cross-references. Its case studies and examples illustrate the regional geographic application of the systematic themes developed by the earlier chapters.
