In many ways, Land combines bits and pieces of many of Winchesters previous books into a satisfying, globe-trotting whole. . . . Winchester is, once again, a consummate guide.Boston Globe The author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and The Perfectionistsexplores the notion of propertybought, earned, or received; in Europe, Africa, North America, or the South Pacificthrough human history, how it has shaped us and what it will mean for our future.Landwhether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or cityis central to our existence. It quite literally underlies and underpins everything. Employing the keen intellect, insatiable curiosity, and narrative verve that are the foundations of his previous bestselling works, Simon Winchester examines what we human beings are doingand have donewith the billions of acres that together make up the solid surface of our planet.Land:How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern Worldexamines in depth how we acquire land, how we steward it, how and why we fight over it, and finally, how we can, and on occasion do, come to share it. Ultimately, Winchester confronts the essential question: who actually owns the worlds landand why does it matter?