"In many ways, Land combines bits and pieces of many of Winchester's
previous books into a satisfying, globe-trotting whole. . . . Winchester
is, once again, a consummate guide."--Boston Globe
The author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed
the World, and The Perfectionists explores the notion of
property--bought, earned, or received; in Europe, Africa, North America,
or the South Pacific--through human history, how it has shaped us and
what it will mean for our future.
Land--whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or
pasture, suburb or city--is central to our existence. It quite literally
underlies and underpins everything. Employing the keen intellect,
insatiable curiosity, and narrative verve that are the foundations of
his previous bestselling works, Simon Winchester examines what we human
beings are doing--and have done--with the billions of acres that
together make up the solid surface of our planet.
Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World examines
in depth how we acquire land, how we steward it, how and why we fight
over it, and finally, how we can, and on occasion do, come to share it.
Ultimately, Winchester confronts the essential question: who actually
owns the world's land--and why does it matter?
