The history of walls becomes more than a tale of bricks and stone it becomes the story of who we are and how we came to be. From ancient times to the present, mankind has built barriers: against the elements, against predatory animals. As Frye guides us through a maze of exotic locales, investigating the coldest of cold cases, he gradually exposes a broader story with implications for the present as well as the past. Available in National Library (Singapore). They have accompanied the rise of cities, nations, and empires. Great Walls have appeared on nearly every continent, the handiwork of people from Persia, Rome, China, Central America, and beyond. Drawing on evidence from around the world, as well as his own experiences on archaeological digs, Frye takes us on a provocative and occasionally humorous journey across windswept deserts and grassy, Northumbrian hills. For thousands of years, humans have built walls and assaulted them, admired walls and reviled them. A lively popular history of an oft-overlooked element in the development of human society (Library Journal)-walls-and a haunting and eye-opening saga. In Walls, David Frye makes a powerful case for rewriting history. And yet they rarely appear in our history books. Instead of focusing on the centers of civilizations, he illuminates the. Great walls have appeared on every continent, the handiwork of Persians, Romans, Chinese, Inca, Ukrainians, and dozens of other peoples. David Fryes Walls turns 5,000 years of history outside in. In a brisk and compulsively readable narrative of invasions, empires, kings, and khans, David Frye presents a bold new theory: walls haven't just influenced the course of history they have profoundly shaped the human psyche.įor thousands of years, people have built walls and assaulted them, admired walls and reviled them. Walls have protected us and divided us, but have they also affected the way we think, work, and create? When he isnt translating, David Frye teaches Latin American culture and society at the University of. For over ten thousand years, much of humankind has lived inside walls behind walls behind still more walls.

Walls by david frye