Simon Winchester is the bestselling author of ATLANIC, THE MAN WHO LOVED CHINA, A CRACK IN THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, KRAKATOA, THE MAP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, THE SURGEON OF CROWTHORNE (THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN), THE FRACTURE ZONE, OUTPOSTS and KOREA among many other titles. In 2006 he was awarded an OBE. He lives in western Massachusetts and New York City.
‘The intricate vocabulary used to talk about land is one of the
many pleasures … The theme could not be more topical … It packs in
a wealth of ideas and human drama – and gives a fresh view of
centuries of social conflict seen through a geographer’s lens’
Financial Times ‘Spend some time with Simon Winchester, and you
will sail oceans, survive earthquakes, peer into volcanoes, pore
over maps, mine the origins of language and measure the
immeasurable world … Poignant … Winchester is good … adding dashes
of drama, narrative, indignation and, above all, connection to
disparate historical accounts … There is soul in this book … A
stirring call for communal imperatives, even if its history
recounts the constant allure of private ownership’
Washington Post ‘Moving across varied histories and geographies, he
offers us one case study after another of how the once seemingly
inexhaustible surface of the Earth has devolved into a commodity …
Winchester is a master at capturing the Old World wonder and
romance … His prose frequently exudes the comfort and charm of a
beloved encyclopaedia come to life, centuries and continents
abutting through the pages’
New Yorker ‘Few authors of narrative nonfiction have ranged across
the global landscape more widely … In his latest engrossing voyage,
the author turns to the land itself, covering a sizable portion of
the 37 billion acres that compose the Earth … [A] unique blend of
wide-eyed curiosity, meticulous research, and erudite analysis … Of
course, this being Winchester, ‘Land’ abounds with dozens of
eye-opening factoids to please any fan of popular history … But
this is no mere bathroom book packed with intriguing facts. His
storytelling talents on full display … Winchester’s colourfully
rendered capsule biographies help to convey the gravity of certain
historical milestones, and nearly 60 illustrations and photographs
add to the experience … Winchester is, once again, a consummate
guide’
Boston Globe
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