What You'll Learn:
There are currently about 37 billion acres of land on earth. Many of humanity’s fiercest fights and deepest longings have been ineluctably tied to the possession and sovereignty over particular pieces of it. British journalist Simon Winchester examines this thing called land and how our relationship to it has shaped history and cultures.
Key Insights:
- The story of how Earth’s landmasses came to take the shapes we are now familiar with is beyond ancient.
- Title deeds are a relatively recent convention, and they have been used as means of dispossessing indigenous populations.
- Ancient farmers were the first to demarcate boundaries between their plots.
- The Dutch culture has been profoundly shaped through its relationship to the “underwater” kingdom.
- Geographic distance from a homeland often dampens violence between rival factions.
- New Zealand shows us the power of acknowledging past wrongs and attempting to make things right.
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