During his campaign for the presidency, one of Donald Trumps signature promises was that he would build a great great wall on the border between the United States and Mexico, and Mexico was going to pay for it. A year and a half into his term, with only a few prototype segments erected, the wall is the 2,000-mile multibillion-dollar elephant in the room of contemporary American life. In The Great Great Wall, architectural historian and critic Ian Volner takes a deep dive into the story of Trumps wall. Volner follows the conception, selling, design, and construction (or lack thereof) of this expensive and consequential barrier, giving listeners a detailed description of whats happening in Washington, DCand along the border. He also travels far afield, to China, the Middle East, northern England, and back to our border to examine the barriers weve been building for centuries. Why do we build walls? What do they reveal about human history?
An absorbing, smart, and timely book on an incredibly contentious and newsworthy topic
