My current stack of books threatens to kill me if it topples, but I want to add one more to the stack. Simon Winchester has a new book out that is distracting me. His previous books includes The Map that Changed the World and Krakatoa. That alone would be enough. But PlaNetizen's review of his new book, Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World, has me ready to skip a few in the stack to get to this.
Don't get me wrong, the review doesn't seem exactly like an endorsement. But the book sounds like it tried to help readers get to a new place, intellectually, in thinking about how we make decisions about land. The reviewer, Josh Stephens, offers this:
For urban planners working on local issues, with local people, Winchester implicitly begs for a reconsideration of the relationship between land and influence. Even if we agree that a homeowner's property is his castle, is the homeowner necessarily entitled to weigh in on, much less decide on, what happens on adjacent properties? And, of course, Winchester reminds us that even a home that is deeded and duly paid for was, initially, stolen from people who had essentially no concept of land ownership (and not enough firepower to defend their land).Our world is changing. And, while this anglo-centric book might not present the final word on the matter, it sounds like a well-researched, well-written exploration of alternative ways to think about the land under our feet, under our homes, and under the communities that we are planning and designing for.
But (sigh) why did I need to read about this just as the new semester starts?
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