Canongate signs 'remarkable and timely' book on borders by Crawford

Canongate has landed James Crawford's The Edge of the Plain, a blend of history, travel writing and reportage tracing the evolution and cultural significance of land borders. 

Simon Thorogood, editorial director, acquired world all language rights from Maggie Pearlstine Associates. US rights have been pre-empted by W W Norton. 

In the book, Crawford argues that society's enduring obsession with borders has brought us to a crisis point: that people are entering the endgame of a process that began thousands of years ago when we first started dividing up the Earth. The book takes in the history of borders — from the earliest marker which denoted the edge of one land and the beginning of the next, to the walls going up around the world today. It is a story told in four parts, each exploring a different aspect of the lifecycle and experience of borders all around the world and throughout history — how they are created, how they can change and evolve, how they are crossed or breached, and, finally, how they are overcome or broken.

Thorogood said: "Often it is only through the wide-angle lens of history that we can bring the modern world into sharp focus, and that is exactly what James Crawford does so brilliantly in this remarkable and timely book."

Crawford is a historian, publisher and broadcaster. He is the author of Fallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of the World's Greatest Lost Buildings (Picador) which was shortlisted for the Saltire Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award. He has written and presented three series of the BBC documentary "Scotland from the Sky". He has served as chair of the Board of Publishing Scotland, the network body for the publishing industry in Scotland. In 2019 he was appointed as the first-ever Scottish ambassador for the UK Archive & Records Association’s "Explore Your Archives" campaign and he is currently chair of Bloody Scotland. 

He said: "Today, there are more political borders in the world than ever before in human history. In this book, through stories from the present and the past, I want to explore where borders came from and what they really are. No matter where you turn now, it seems that these taught lines are vibrating to — or even calling — the tune of global events. Their futures are connected intimately to our own. Controlling our landscapes, our memories, our identities — and our destinies.

"I’m hugely excited to be publishing this book with the exceptional team at Canongate and delighted to be joining their wonderfully talented and diverse list of authors."

Canongate will publish The Edge of the Plain in August 2022.