Description
Price: $24.95 - $23.20
(as of Dec 12, 2024 06:10:37 UTC – Details)
Every border tells a surprising story in this uncommonly enlightening history that will change the way you understand the world
Many lines on the map are worth far more than a thousand words, going well beyond merely marking divisions between nations. In this eye-opening investigation into the most remarkable points on the map, a single boundary might, upon closer inspection, reveal eons of history―from epic tales of conquest, treaties, and alliances to intimate, all-too-human stories of love, greed, and folly. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, none of the lines we know today were inevitable, and all might have looked quite different if not for the intricate interplay of chance and ambition.
By listening to the stories these borders have to tell, we can learn how political identities are shaped, why the world’s boundaries look the way they do―and what they tell us about our world and ourselves. From the very first maps in Egypt to the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilization, from the profound shift in meaning of the Mason–Dixon line to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, and from the dark consequences of Detroit’s city limits to the intriguing reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a singular look at human history―told through its most spellbinding border stories.
22 Black & White Maps
From the Publisher
The Local Government Reforms of Emperor Napoleon I
Napoleon’s empire at its greatest extent, c. 1812, overlaid on modern boundaries. The darker line shows the borders of the expanded France; the lighter one, client states. The empire of Austria was sometimes allied, too.
The American Invasion of Mexico
Territorial change in the US–Mexican War of 1846–8, superimposed on a map of the modern United States. The war saw the US capture territory that would form nearly six more states.
The Results of the Scramble for Africa
Buy 1913, the vast majority of the continent was dominated by a handful of European powers, although some areas were in revolt. (For those wondering, Huwan – today’s Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State – was in rebellion against Ethiopia.)
How the World Froze Territorial Claims in Antarctica
The overlapping territorial claims that slice Antarctica up like a pie. Only Marie Byrd Land, in the bottom left, remains unclaimed.
The Local Government Reforms of Emperor Napoleon I
The American Invasion of Mexico
The Results of the Scramble for Africa
How the World Froze Territorial Claims in Antarctica
Publisher : The Experiment (October 8, 2024)
Language : English
Hardcover : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 189101157X
ISBN-13 : 978-1891011573
Item Weight : 1.23 pounds
Dimensions : 6.3 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.