Book Reviews 215

rather thin. (It reads as a personal statement with a high level of self-referencing and the level of overall referencing is not high.) Such students certainly ought not to need convincing of the importance of cultural and social geography for a proper under- standing of regional issues. This point is made early on but is not in fact substantially addressed.

The lack of clear development in the text is one reason why it will be most useful as a reference source for opinions and some examples on specific issues rather than as a course text. The main sections, in order, deal with methodology, urban developments, transportation, the environment, welfare policy, government policy and ‘futurology’ (forecasting and discussion of long-term societal trends).

The methodology chapter plunges straight into shift-share analysis; this is followed by methods for local labour market analysis and the measure- ment of ‘equilibrium’. The development of labour market analysis is in terms of welfare considera- tions and the definition of worker needs rather than aggregate measures of labour supply and demand differences. An index is discussed which seeks to measure labour market disequilibrium as a dis- crepancy between the location and professional status of jobs and the location and qualifications of the workforce. The formalism seems rather cumbersome but the development is an interesting variant on a familiar problem.

The chapter on urbanization in Europe examines shifting patterns and policies and the role of towns in regional development and the succeeding chapter on transportation includes a discussion of the influence of these urban changes on changes in the demand for transport and the role of public transport. The book makes frequent reference to the role of cost-benefit analysis in the development of policy and this approach surfaces in the chapters on transport policy, environmental policy and welfare policy.

The book is an interesting introduction to issues in the field of regional science and regional economics for second- and third-year under- graduates. Certain issues are notable by their absence, such as regional economic growth modelling, and the tone of the book is strongly neo- classical and positivistic. It seeks to address major practical issues and give the reader a feeling for the importance of space in the definition and analysis of those problems.

Robert Haining Department of Geography, University of Sheffield

and this is why geographers are interested in retail- ing-we are, after all, in the location business.

The retail system is in a constant process of major change and therefore increasingly sophisti- cated methods of analysis are required to achieve competitive advantage in the market-place. This book represents a synthesis of the analytical tech- niques currently available to retailing and is based mainly upon an ESRC-sponsored Workshop on Methods of Retail Analysis and Forecasting, with 13 chapters from researchers in both academia and retailing.

The book commences with an excellent overview by Neil Wrigley which addresses the major restructuring that has occurred in retailing within the past two decades, illustrated by reference to the grocery and DIY trades, and considers retail and locational analysis in the new retail environment.

The majority of the book’s chapters form the first major section on models of store location and techniques of market analysis. Breheny’s opening chapter is a highly readable review of methods of retail location analysis set within a problem-solving framework. The chapter provides the basis whereby a prospective researcher could begin to implement techniques such as multiple regression to address the questions of store performance and store location. The issues of data availability and quality, and the specific methodologies associated with categorical data analysis and gravity-based spatial interaction modelling are discussed in this section by Beaumont, while market share analysis techniques are considered by Fotheringham, who details the operationalization of a stochastic, com- pensatory model (multinomial logit). Penny and Broom provide a practical example of store location research in their chapter which analyses the interaction-based approach to store location and assessment adopted by Tesco, while Wilson’s chapter reviews British research and practice in store and shopping centre location and size. Stated preference techniques of consumer store choice are considered in the two final chapters of the section by Bates and Moore.

The three chapters in the second section of the book, models of store choice, all explore the use of the NBD and Dirichlet models of consumer purchasing behaviour to represent and forecast patterns of store choice for frequently purchased grocery items. The purpose here is not to review the many methods available but is simply to provide a ‘comprehensive set of chapters on one promising method of modelling store choice’. However, I felt that this depth of treatment of NBD/Dirichlet imbalanced the book (althoueh this mav be due to a

Wrigley, N. (ed.) Store choice, store location and lack of conviction regarding-the modeis).

market analysis. London: Routledge, 1988.358 pp, The two chapters by Guy and Humby in the final

f39 hardback. section of the book address the implications of the introduction of computer-based information tech-

It is often said that there are three key elements to nology into retailing. The advent of EPoS and

success in retailing-‘location, location, location’, EFTPoS offers exciting possibilities as regards customer data capture (although with Big Brother

216 Book Reviews

looking on?) which can radically upgrade analyses of store performance and market penetration, although there is a potential danger of retailers be- coming overloaded by the information explosion.

The book is a well-produced, excellent addition to the growing literature on an area of major importance to both business and geography. To gain fully from some of the chapters, readers will need a reasonable degree of mathematical compre- hension, and 1 feel that the balance in depth of treatment in the chapters/sections was somewhat variable, although that is partly inevitable with a multi-authored volume. In overview though, if you are interested in retailing or applied geography, you should have this book on your bookshelf.

A. J. Parker Cenrre for Retail Studies, University College Dublin

Parker, G. Thegeopoliticsofdomination. London: Routledge, 1988. 184 pp. ~527.50 hardback.

While political geography as a whole has under- gone a renaissance in recent years, geopolitics has been rather neglected (Taylor 1985). However, there are signs that this situation is changing, and a number of books and papers in the field have been published during the 1980s. Geoffrey Parker has contributed to the rehabilitation of geopolitics, and his new book attempts to further the cause by applying geopolitical ideas to the study of European states.

The scope of the book is ambitious. Parker takes as his stage continental Europe and discusses events over more than a thousand years. He attempts to provide an account of the dominant state (a state attempting to exert control over the continent). While the political, social and economic aspects of the ‘will to dominate’ have been studied exten- sively, he argues, the territorial and geopolitical dimensions have been neglected. It is this lacuna which he tries to fill: under what geopolitical conditions do some states attempt to establish hegemony over their neighbours?

The book falls roughly into two halves, the first deriving, and the second applying a ‘geopolitical model of dominance’. After a brief introductory chapter discussing the nature of the ‘will to dominance’ in the western ecumene, Parker embarks, in Chapters 2 and 3, on a survey of five pretenders for the title of European dominant state: the Ottoman Turks, Spain, Austria, France, and Germany. His account is on an epic scale: the discussion of German bids for dominance, for instance, takes us from the foundation of the Altmark on the eastern fringes of the germanic world in the tenth century through to the rise and fall of the Third Reich. A ‘model of geopolitical dominance’ drawn from these case studies is enun- ciated in Chapter 4, and describes the growth and

consolidation of dominant states. The model is then applied in subsequent chapters to the Russian empire and to the Soviet Union, with theconclusion that perceptions of Russian geopolitical uniqueness are ‘greatly exaggerated’. Again, the historical range is impressive, taking the reader from the sack of Kiev by Genghis Khan to the contemporary superpower status of the Soviet state. Parker then develops a further model, describing the geo- political conditions under which states retreat from positions of dominance. Application of this second model to the Soviet case suggests that ‘the days of such domination as the Soviet Union has been able to achieve may be coming to an end’ (p. 156). In his epilogue, Parker reflects on the dominant state in a nuclear world.

The book is well written and thought-provoking, and Parker marshals a wide range of material with impressive erudition. The wealth of case study material justifies inclusion on undergraduate reading lists. In addition, Parker’s models of the geopolitical growth and decline of dominant states deserve wide attention and debate. The inclusion of a short glossary of geopolitical terms adds to the value of the volume for undergraduates.

On the whole, then, there is much to commend the volume. However, three aspects of Parker’s argument worry me. First, it seems to me that his approach tends, albeit inadvertantly, to reify the state as an object of analysis. Parker argues that ‘throughout the ages [dominant states1 . . have allowed themselves to be persuaded that they have a special mission’ (p. 161). Persuaded by what, and by whom? Can a state have intentions and impera- tives of its own, independent of those of its leaders and functionaries?

Secondly, Parker bases his models entirely upon states, which have made partially successful bids for dominance. It would be interesting, however, to see how other states compare. Are there examples of states which share the initial conditions of Parker’s model but do not go on to seek dominance and, if so, why do they not? I am not sure, from Parker’s account, how dominant states differ geo- politically from non-dominant states.

Thirdly, Parker concentrates exclusively upon continental Europe, the ‘western ecumene’. How amicable is it in other environments? The British empire would seem to differ in important respects.

However, these objections provide avenues for further research rather than fundamental objec- tions to the project. There is a pressing need for historically informed accounts of the interrelations between states which pay attention to the geo- graphy as well as the politic of statecraft. Parker has made a valuable step in that direction.

Taylor, P. J. (1985) Political geography. London: Longman.

C. J. Pattie Departmenl of Geography, University of Sheffield