Walls: A History of Civilization in Blood and Brick by David Frye
Summary: In Walls historian David Frye tells the
epic story of history's greatest manmade barriers, from ancient times to the
present. It is a haunting and frequently eye-opening saga--one that reveals a
startling link between what we build and how we live. With Frye as our
raconteur-guide, we journey back to a time before barriers of brick and stone
even existed--to an era in which nomadic tribes vied for scarce resources, and
each man was bred to a life of struggle. Ultimately, those same men would
create edifices of mud, brick, and stone, and with them effectively divide
humanity: on one side were those the walls protected; on the other, those the
walls kept out.
The stars
of this narrative are the walls themselves--rising up in places as ancient and
exotic as Mesopotamia, Babylon, Greece, China, Rome, Mongolia, Afghanistan, the
lower Mississippi and even Central America. As we journey across time and
place, we discover a hidden, thousand-mile-long wall in Asia's steppes; learn
of bizarre Spartan rituals; watch Mongol chieftains lead their miles-long
hordes; witness the epic siege of Constantinople; chill at the fate of French
explorers; marvel at the folly of the Maginot Line; tense at the gathering
crisis in Cold War Berlin; gape at Hollywood's gated royalty; and contemplate
the wall mania of our own era.
A
masterpiece of historical recovery and preeminent storytelling, Walls is alternately evocative, amusing,
chilling, and deeply insightful as it gradually reveals the startling ways that
barriers have affected our psyches. The questions this book summons are both
intriguing and profound: Did walls make civilization possible? And can we live
without them?
Angie’s comments: Author
Frye presents a different perspective of history using walls. The book is not
long, but it asks some tough questions and gave me a lot to think about. Frye presents
the history in an easy-to-understand way, so no need to be a historian to enjoy
this book.
Recommended for readers interested in historical civilizations and/or
modern politics.
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