How fallible and greedy we are as (some cultures) humanity - the avarice for land of western cultures pitted against the (then) available land as "discovery" and colonisation took place. Interesting anecdotes on a wide range of topics around land ownership, purchase and sale, warring over, theft and possession. A really LONG read though

I love Winchester and his ability to make history riveting is unmatched. Typically his books have a nice thread that connect seemingly disconnected events and places together well (Pacific was great). But Land is too audacious. The concept itself is far too broad to capture which leads to uneven coverage of major events surrounding land ownership. As a case in point, New Zealand got one chapter but the entire continent of Africa got only one chapter, and half the length at that. Naturally the book is heavy on the Western concepts of land ownership (which is understandable) but even then it’s uneven. It’s filled with informative and compelling stories that give nice abridged versions of things that warrant deeper dives (personally I learned that I want to learn a lot more about the Soviet-sponsored Holodomor in Ukraine and Japanese internment camps throughout the western U.S.). But there were also chapters where Winchester’s flowery language and poetic descriptions became tiresome. For the first time I found myself skimming his chapters. Overall it was still enjoyable and informative. But based on the high bar he’s set, this one didn’t pass.