''Divided: Why We're Living in an Age of Walls'' is a book on border barriers by the British author and journalist

Tim Marshall Tim Marshall may refer to: * Tim Marshall (journalist) (born 1959), British journalist, writer and broadcaster * Tim Marshall (radio host) Tim Marshall is a South Jersey radio personality, music producer, journalist, concert promoter, educator, a ...

. It was published by Elliott & Thompson in 2018.

Synopsis

Marshall notes that the majority of border barriers built since the end of the Second World War were not

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

structures like the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

, but constructed in the 21st century. Chapters of the book are on barriers such as the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...

, the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall, the wall on the

Bangladesh–India border The Bangladesh–India border, known locally as the International Border (IB), is an international border running between Bangladesh and India that demarcates the eight divisions of Bangladesh and the Indian states. Bangladesh and India share ...

, the Israeli West Bank barrier and the

Mexico–United States barrier The Mexico–United States barrier ( es, barrera Estados Unidos–México), also known as the border wall, is a series of vertical barriers along the Mexico–United States border intended to reduce illegal immigration to the United States ...

. Marshall writes that the

2015 European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to request ...

resulted in a rise in far-right parties, and believes that nation states should be protected while a "21st-century

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

" redistributes wealth to the

Global South The concept of Global North and Global South (or North–South divide in a global context) is used to describe a grouping of countries along socio-economic and political characteristics. The Global South is a term often used to identify region ...

Reception

Samanth Subramanian of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' was disappointed that the book appeared to be sourced from journals and newspapers rather than Marshall's experiences as an international journalist. He also disliked how Marshall deemed wall-building to be "

human nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

" and did not deal with the paradox of humanity's most interconnected era also being the one with the most border barriers. Writing in ''Geographical'', the official magazine of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, Laura Cole also found Marshall to be "on the fence" about why there was an increase in wall-building in the 21st century. She praised sections on internal dividers, such as gated communities in the United States and South Africa, and China's online Great Firewall. In ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...

'', Marcello Di Cintio praised Marshall's level of research on topics such as black disadvantage in the United States. Huston Gilmore of the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' gave the book four stars out of five. He criticised the lack of development of Marshall's ideas and found the conclusion to be rushed. A review by Michael McCosh in ''The Press and Journal'' called the book "a very knowledgeable, timely book and a good primer on current problems in a longer-term context", but deemed it to need "more of a flourish" due to the serious topics.

References

{{reflist 2018 non-fiction books Books about nationalism