《地理的故事》是世界地理著作中的经典，是一部以通俗的手法描写以人的活动与发展为中心的世界地理巨著，是一本关于“人”的地理书。在简要介绍地理的基本知识之后，房龙分别讲述了世界各地的地理环境，着重分析地理对国家或地区的历史演变、民族性格的形成、地缘政治等的影响；阐释地球是人类的共同家园，生活于其中的人们只有合作才能和平而有序。小小的巴尔干总是刀光剑影，而广袤的西伯利亚却宁静祥和；丹麦人喜欢静谧书斋，而西班牙人则热衷于海外探险；国土狭小的瑞士一贯秉承中立，而日本近代疯狂地向外扩张……难道国家性格、民族特性真的与国家地理有关？或许本书会给出一些答案。该书自出版以来，一直畅销至今。无论作为通俗的世界地理读本，还是作为语言学习的课外读物，本书对当代中国的读者都将产生积极的影响。为了使读者能够了解每章内容概况，进而提高阅读速度和阅读水平，在段故事的开始部增加了中文导读。为了读者更好地理解书中内容，在部分章节中加入了插图。

《地理的故事》是世界地理著作中的经典，是一部以通俗的手法描写以人的活动与发展为中心的世界地理巨著，是一本关于“人”的地理书。

封面
书名页
内容简介
版权页
前言
前面的话
阅读本书之前，告诉你如何使用这本书
目录页
1.我们生活的世界还生活着其他人/And These Are the People Who Live in the World We Live in
2.“地理”一词的定义以及我将在本书中如何使用它/A Definition of the Word Geography and How I Shall Apply It in the Present Volume
3.我们的行星：它的习性、风俗以及举止/Our Planet:Its Habits, Customs and Manners
4.地图。非常简洁的一章但却描述了一个庞大而吸引人的话题。关于人们慢慢学会了如何在这个行星上找到路线的几点观察Maps. A very Brief Chapter upon a Very Big andFascinating Subject. Together with a Few Observations
5.季节以及它们是怎样变化的/The Seasons and How They happen
6.想想这个星球上的小块旱地，为什么其中一些被称为洲，而另外一些却不是/Concerning the Little Spots of Dry Land on This Planet and Why Some of Them are Called Continents While Others are not
7.关于欧洲的发现以及生活在那里的人们/Of the Discovery of Europe and the Sort of People Who Live in That Part of the World
8.希腊，东地中海的岩石岬角，连接古老亚洲和新兴欧洲的桥梁/Greece, the Rocky Promontory of the Eastern Mediterranean Which Acted as the Connecting Link Between the Old Asia and the New Europe
9.意大利，它的地理情况使它一旦时机成熟就能充当海上霸主或陆上霸主的角色/Italy, the Country Which due to Its Geographical Situation Could Play the Role of a Sea-Power or a Land-Power, as the Occasion Demanded
10.西班牙，非洲和欧洲碰撞处/Spain, Where Africa and Europe Clashed
11.法国，拥有想要的一切的国家/France, the Country That Has Everything It Wants
12.比利时，纸片缔造的国家，除了内部和谐，拥有一切/Belgium, A Country Created by Scraps of Paper and Rich in Everything except Internal Harmony
13.卢森堡，历史奇迹/Luxemburg, the Historical Curiosity
14.瑞士，高山上的国家，拥有优秀的学校和团结的国民——讲四种不同的语言/Switzerland, the Country of High Mountains, Excellent Schools and a Unified People Who Speak Four Different Languages
15.德国，建立得太晚的国家/Germany, the Nation That was Founded too Late
16.奥地利，一个不受人重视的国家，除非它不再存在/Austria, the Country That Nobody Appreciated Until It no Longer Existed
17.丹麦，在某些方面是小国胜过大国的典范/Denmark, An Object Lesson in Certain Advantages of Small Countries over Large Ones
18.冰岛，北冰洋中有趣的政治实验室/Iceland, An Interesting Political Laboratory in the Arctic Ocean
19.斯堪的纳维亚半岛，瑞典王国与挪威王国的领地/The Scandinavian Peninsula, The Territory Occupied by the Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
20.荷兰，北海岸堤上的沼泽，它却变成了一个帝国/The Netherlands, the Swamp On the Banks of the North Sea That Became An Empire
21.大不列颠，荷兰海岸线外的一个岛屿，为全人类1/4的人口谋幸福/Great Britain, An Island off the Dutch Coast Which Is Responsible For the Happiness of Fully One-Quarter of the Human Race
22.俄罗斯，其地理位置让人难以断定它是欧洲的一部分还是亚洲的一部分/Russia, the Country Which Was Prevented By Its Geographical Location From Ever Finding Out Whether It Was Part of Europe Or of Asia
23.波兰，遭受作为走廊之痛的国家，而现在却拥有自己的走廊/Poland, the Country That Had always Suffered from Being a Corridor and Therefore now Has a Corridor of Its Own
24.捷克斯洛伐克，《凡尔赛和约》的产物/Czechoslovakia, a Product of the Treaty of Versailles
25.南斯拉夫，《凡尔赛和约》的另一个产物/Yugoslavia, Another Product of the Treaty of Versailles
26.保加利亚，巴尔干国家中最健全者，因爱好收集蝴蝶的国王在世界大战中押错了宝而自食其果/Bulgaria, the Soundest of All Balkan Countries, Whose Butterfly-Collecting King Bet on the Wrong Horse during the Great War and Suffered the Consequences
27.罗马尼亚，拥有石油和皇室的国家/Romania, a Country Which Has Oil and a Royal Family
28.匈牙利，及它的那些遗物/Hungary, or What Remains of It
29.芬兰，另一个通过智慧和勤奋战胜恶劣自然环境的例子/Finland, Another Example of What Hard Work and Intelligence can Achieve amid Hostile Natural Surroundings
30.亚洲的发现/The Discovery of Asia
31.对于世界其他地方而言，亚洲意味着什么/What Asia has Meant to the Rest of the World
32.中亚高地/The Central Asiatic Highlands
33.亚洲西部大高原The Great Western Plateau of Asia
34.阿拉伯，何时是亚洲的一部分，何时又不是/Arabia—or When is a Part of Asia not a Part of Asia
35.印度，自然和人类同时在从事大规模生产的地方/India, Where Nature and Man are Engaged in Mass-Production
36.占据另一个南亚大半岛的缅甸、泰国、安南以及马六甲/Burma, Siam, Anam and Malacca, Which Occupy the Other Great Southern Peninsula of Asia
37.中国，东亚大半岛/The Republic of China, the Great Peninsula of Eastern Asia
38.朝鲜、蒙古/Korea, Mongolia
39.日本帝国/The Japanese Empire
40.菲律宾，墨西哥的古老辖地/The Philippines, an old Administrative Part of Mexico
41.荷属东印度，尾大不掉/The Dutch East Indies, the Tail That Wags the Dog
42.澳大利亚，大自然的养子/Australia, the Step-Child of Nature
43.新西兰/New Zealand
44.太平洋上的岛屿，在那里，人们既不辛勤工作，也不会胡扯，却同我们一样地生活着/The Islands of the Pacific Where People Neither Toiled Nor Spun but Lived Just the Same
45.非洲，矛盾与对立的大陆/Africa, the Continent of Contradictions and Contrasts
46.美洲，幸运之洲/America, the Most Fortunate of All
47.新世界/A New World
封底