History

First Few Pages: Land by Simon Winchester

Posted on February 3, 2021| Posted in First Few Pages

The author of The Professor and the Madman and The Perfectionists explores the notion of property—our proprietary relationship with the land—through human history, how it has shaped us and what it will mean for our future. Read an excerpt on the blog.

First Few Pages: Caste

Posted on August 20, 2020| Posted in First Few Pages

Isabel Wilkerson explores caste systems across civilizations and the eight pillars that underlie them — including divine will, bloodlines, stigma and more. This powerful caste system influences people's lives and behavior, even the nation's fate. Using riveting stories of people — from Martin Luther King Jr.'s to her own, and many others' — Wilkerson shows the ways caste is experienced every day.