The Edge of the Plain: How Borders Make and Break Our World

Awards:   Short-listed for Saltire Society Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2023 (UK)
Author:   James Crawford
Publisher:   Canongate Books
Edition:   Main
ISBN:  

9781838852023


Pages:   432
Publication Date:   04 August 2022
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
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The Edge of the Plain: How Borders Make and Break Our World


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Awards

  • Short-listed for Saltire Society Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2023 (UK)

Overview

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. Today, nationalism, climate change, globalisation, technology and mass migration are all colliding with ever-hardening borders. Something has to give. At stake is the future of the world as we know it. Borders are the ultimate test - can we let go of the lines that separate us? Or are we fated to repeat the mistakes of the past, as our angry, warming and segregated planet lurches towards catastrophe? Combining history, travel and reportage, The Edge of the Plain, takes us through the history of borders - from the first ever marker which denoted the edge of one land and the beginning of the next, to the walls going up around the world today. It is a story told in four parts: Making, Moving, Crossing and Breaking. Each part explores a different aspect of the lifecycle and experience of borders all around the world and throughout history - how they are created, how they can change and evolve, how they are crossed or breached, and, finally, how they are overcome or broken.

Full Product Details

Author:   James Crawford
Publisher:   Canongate Books
Imprint:   Canongate Books
Edition:   Main
Dimensions:   Width: 16.20cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 24.00cm
Weight:   0.667kg
ISBN:  

9781838852023


ISBN 10:   1838852026
Pages:   432
Publication Date:   04 August 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Table of Contents

Reviews

With The Edge of the Plain Crawford has created a beautifully-observed and carefully-researched collection of reportage on a diverse series of borders - of historic Palestine, in the Mediterranean, USA/Mexico, as well as other less-considered borders - those revealed by our rapidly changing climate, and the microscopic frontiers of the human body. Sometimes the view from the edge is the most illuminating one -- GAVIN FRANCIS Praise for Fallen Glory: Crawford conveys superbly these absorbing tales of hubris, power, violence and decay * * Sunday Times * * Witty and memorable . . . moving as well as myth-busting -- MARY BEARD * * Times Literary Supplement * * A beautiful book, and an admirable monument to the most spectacular buildings man's ingenuity and ambition have ever raised * * Mail on Sunday * * The most interesting book I have come across this year . . . magnificent -- ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH * * New Statesman * * Crawford is a striking storyteller . . . resoundingly fine writing * * The Times * * Magnificent . . . Many of these buildings can be seen as microcosms of the decline and fall of whole civilisations * * Daily Telegraph * * I savoured each page. At no time was I tempted to rush through or skip ahead. The writing is that good, and each one of the author's subjects is fascinating and idiosyncratic . . . This is a book of and for the world * * Wall Street Journal * * Delightful . . . The chapter on the Twin Towers is one of the best such pieces I have read * * Scotland on Sunday * * The work of a talented storyteller who takes the reader on a grand expedition * * New York Journal of Books * *


Praise for Fallen Glory: Crawford conveys superbly these absorbing tales of hubris, power, violence and decay * * Sunday Times * * Witty and memorable . . . moving as well as myth-busting -- MARY BEARD * * Times Literary Supplement * * A beautiful book, and an admirable monument to the most spectacular buildings man's ingenuity and ambition have ever raised * * Mail on Sunday * * The most interesting book I have come across this year . . . magnificent -- ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH * * New Statesman * * Crawford is a striking storyteller . . . resoundingly fine writing * * The Times * * Magnificent . . . Many of these buildings can be seen as microcosms of the decline and fall of whole civilisations * * Daily Telegraph * * I savoured each page. At no time was I tempted to rush through or skip ahead. The writing is that good, and each one of the author's subjects is fascinating and idiosyncratic . . . This is a book of and for the world * * Wall Street Journal * * Delightful . . . The chapter on the Twin Towers is one of the best such pieces I have read * * Scotland on Sunday * * The work of a talented storyteller who takes the reader on a grand expedition * * New York Journal of Books * *


'Praise for Fallen Glory: 'Crawford conveys superbly these absorbing tales of hubris, power, violence and decay' - Sunday Times 'Witty and memorable . . . moving as well as myth-busting' - MARY BEARD 'A beautiful book, and an admirable monument to the most spectacular buildings man's ingenuity and ambition have ever raised' - Mail on Sunday 'The most interesting book I have come across this year . . . magnificent' - ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH 'Crawford is a striking storyteller . . . resoundingly fine writing' - The Times 'Magnificent . . . Many of these buildings can be seen as microcosms of the decline and fall of whole civilisations' - Daily Telegraph


Author Information

James Crawford is an acclaimed historian, publisher and broadcaster. He is the author of Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of the World's Greatest Lost Buildings, which was shortlisted for the Saltire Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award. In 2016 he was elected as Chair of the Board of Publishing Scotland, the network body for the publishing industry in Scotland; and in July 2019 he was appointed 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

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