Description

SHORTLISTED FOR SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL NON-FICTION BOOK AWARD 2023

No matter where you turn, it seems that the taut lines of borders are vibrating to – or even calling – the tune of global events

Today, there are more borders in the world than ever before in human history. Beginning with the earliest known example, Crawford travels to many borders old and new: from a melting glacial landscape to the conflict-torn West Bank and the fault-lines of the US/Mexico border. He 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.

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?

Publisher Review

A richly essayistic account of how borders make and break our world, from Hadrian's Wall to China's Great Firewall * * Guardian * * The borders that mark our world are either ineffective, inhumane, or both. The Edge of the Plain asks us to envision alternatives * * New York Times * * Erudite and engaging . . . [A] fine book * * The Irish Times * * Why do lines on a map hold such power over humanity? Will we ever do away with them? These are some of the questions pondered - and answered - by James Crawford. Fascinating * * CNN * * Fascinating -- NIHAL ARTHANAYAKE * * BBC R5 * * [A] lyrical tour of borders in the past and the present . . . Crawford is at his best when surrendering to his propensity for reverie, an irrepressible, almost romantic sense of wonder that drives the reader from chapter to chapter * * Washington Post * * Crawford travels widely to make his points in a text reminiscent of those of Barry Lopez or Robert Macfarlane . . . A thoughtful consideration of the imaginary lines that hold meaning for so many * * Kirkus Reviews * * Confidently splices historical overview, travel writing and interviews. The book's alchemical ingredients are Crawford's sparkling prose and his photographer's eye for detail * * Business Post * * Crawford's essays, through vivid accounts of historical episodes and contemporary problems, illuminate how the world acquired its current shape . . . Eye-opening * * Literary Review * * [A] wide-reaching examination of the walls, barriers and "landscape interventions" that promote both freedom and independence, and enforce exile and humiliation . . . Borders are indeed a dirty affair, but as Crawford's excellent book demonstrates, they are also fascinating * * Geographical * *