First published in 1986, this book demonstrates that territoriality for
humans is not an instinct, but a powerful and often indispensable
geographical strategy used to control people and things by controlling
area. This argument is developed by analysing the possible advantages
and disadvantages that territoriality can provide, and by considering
why some and not others arise at particular times. Major changes are
explored in the relationships between territory and society from
primitive times to the present day, with special attention to the
distinctions between premodern and modern uses of space and territory.
Specific analyses of the pre-modern uses of territoriality are provided
by the history of the Catholic Church, and, for the modern context, by
study of North American political territorial organization and the
organization of factory, office, and home.