{"product_id":"the-edge-of-the-plain-james-crawford-9781324037040","title":"The Edge of the Plain: How Borders Make and Break Our World","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince 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 \u003cem\u003eThe Edge of the Plain\u003c\/em\u003e, James Crawford skillfully blends history, travel writing, and reportage to trace these borderlines throughout history and across the globe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat happens on the ground when we impose lines on a map that contradict how humans have always lived--and moved? Crawford confronts that question from bloody territorial disputes in Mesopotamia, to the S疳mi lands of Scandinavia, the shifting boundaries of the Israel-Palestine conflict, efforts to build a wall on the United States-Mexico border, and the dangerous border crossings pursued by migrants into Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd yet the role of borders extends beyond specific sites of conflict. On the largest scale, borders define the limits of empire--the two walls in Britain that once represented the northwestern edge of the Roman Empire; the mythological eastern gate supposedly closed off by Alexander the Great; China's virtual \"Great Firewall.\" On the smallest, human scale, cell walls are the last physical barrier against disease, after lines of quarantine have failed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, as \u003cem\u003eThe Edge of the Plain\u003c\/em\u003e reveals, humans have not only made their mark on the landscape: the landscape itself is now changing, more and more rapidly due to climate change. Crawford introduces us to both the Alpine watershed--one such shifting, natural borderline--and the \"Great Green Wall\" in Africa, envisioned as an international, community-built bulwark against desertification.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorders are as old as human civilization, and focal points for today's colliding forces of nationalism, climate change, globalization, and mass migration. \u003cem\u003eThe Edge of the Plain\u003c\/em\u003e illuminates these lines of separation past and present, how we define them--and how they define us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James Crawford\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1324037040\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781324037040\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/10\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 432\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.39lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.26h x 6.32w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2022 pg. 16\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/14\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/02\/2022 pg. 1","brand":"James Crawford","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44071355842815,"sku":"9781324037040","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_47892da1-e863-4359-bff9-77bc777f2075.jpg?v=1685435612","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-edge-of-the-plain-james-crawford-9781324037040","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}