Whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city, land literally underlies and underpins every human activity. In an entertaining and provocative discussion, best-selling author Simon Winchester discusses how we acquire land, how we steward it, how and why we fight over it, and finally, how we sometimes share it.
Drawing on his new book, Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World, Winchester examines what we human beings are doing—and have done—with the billions of acres that blanket the surface of our planet. From the planet’s geological history and struggles over indigenous land rights in America and Australia, to the ongoing legal, cultural, and social issues related to land use and ownership, Winchester confronts the essential question: Who actually owns the world’s land—and why does it matter?
Copies of Land (HarperCollins) are available for purchase.
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