Why read The Edge of the Plain?

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

Book description

Since the earliest known marker denoting the edge of one land and the beginning of the next-a stone column inscribed with Sumerian cuneiform-borders have been imagined, mapped, moved, and fought over. In The Edge of the Plain, James Crawford skillfully blends history, travel writing, and reportage to trace these borderlines…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Edge of the Plain as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Maxim Samson

Author

For millennia, people have been obsessed with borders, drawing them, reinforcing them, fighting over them, and moving them. In this timely essayistic account, Crawford explores borders’ important role in moulding our planet and their continued significance for people and wildlife worldwide.

Many associate borders with exclusion and unwelcome, and Crawford does not shy away from censuring some of the world’s most flagrant examples. However, the main reason I enjoyed The Edge of the Plain is the nuance it provides with respect to how a border is experienced and what is even considered a border. As some of his interviewees explain,…

From Maxim's 3 favorite reads in 2023.