Product details
- ISBN 9781838852023
- Weight: 667g
- Dimensions: 162 x 240mm
- Publication Date: 04 Aug 2022
- Publisher: Canongate Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
SHORTLISTED FOR SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL NON-FICTION BOOK AWARD 2023
Today, there are more borders in the world than ever before in human history.
In this book James Crawford argues that our enduring obsession with borders has brought us to a crisis point: that we are entering the endgame of a process that began thousands of years ago, when we first started dividing up the earth.
Beginning with the earliest known marker which denoted the end of one land and the beginning of the next, Crawford follows the story of borders into our fragile and uncertain future - towards the virtual frontiers of the internet, and the shifting geography of a world beset by climate change. In the process, he travels to many borders old and new: from a melting border high in the glacial landscapes of the Austrian-Italian Alps to the only place on land where Europe and Africa meet; from the artist Banksy's 'Walled Off Hotel' in the conflict-torn West Bank to the Sonoran Desert and the fault lines of the US/Mexico border.
Combining history, travel and reportage, The Edge of the Plain explores how borders have grown and evolved to take control of our landscapes, our memories, our identities and our destinies. As nationalism, climate change, globalisation, technology and mass migration all collide with ever-hardening borders, something has to give. And Crawford asks, is it time to let go of the lines that divide us?
James Crawford is an acclaimed historian, publisher and broadcaster. Born in Shetland in 1978, he studied History and Philosophy of Law at the University of Edinburgh, winning the Lord President Cooper Memorial Prize, and for over a decade he worked for and researched Scotland's National Collection of architecture and archaeology. He is the author of Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of the World's Greatest Lost Buildings, which was shortlisted for best non-fiction book at the Saltire Literary Awards, and he has scripted and presented three series of the landmark BBC One documentary Scotland from the Sky. In 2019 he was named as the first-ever Scottish ambassador for the UK Archive and Records Association's 'Explore Your Archives' campaign. He lives in Edinburgh.
@Jdcrawf | jamescrawford.space
