Product Description
The Edges of the World
Author: Charles Foster
Format: Hardback
At the margins of life, lands and history
New York Times bestselling author Charles Foster argues that all the best ideas happen at the edges, from a rocky precipice where the first human set foot in Europe to an ancient Egyptian temple where monotheism was invented.
'Literal "eccentricity" is where the scientific, artistic and spiritual giants have always found their home. Venture with Foster if you dare, and embrace life.' — Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and His Emissary
We tend to think that everything important comes from the centre: from big cities, from established orthodoxies in the sciences and the arts, from the Establishment in all its forms. We think this because the centre tells us it is so, but it's a lie. It is only at the edges that we think, innovate and thrive.
This book travels to the frontiers of human culture and consciousness; to the edges of continents, of evolution, of artistic and political movements, and life itself: from a rocky precipice in the Peloponnese where the first human set foot in Europe to an ancient Egyptian temple where monotheism was invented; from St Francis, kissing lepers to the giant bird-eating mice of St Kilda.
Why do we stare at sunsets? Why do we celebrate birthdays and grieve for those who are gone? Why do all adventures begin when we leave and get lost? Who has the better view of reality - the Government or the dispossessed?
And what happens when we live with the knowledge that we're all teetering on the edge of the dark?
About the Author
Charles Foster is a New York Times bestselling author whose work has been longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for nature writing, and won the Ig Nobel Prize for Biology and the 30 Millions d'Amis Prize. He is a fellow of Exeter College, University of Oxford, and has particular passions for Greece, waves, the Upper Palaeolithic, mountains and swifts.
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