After three decades abroad, Kerstin Lange traces the remains of the 1,400-kilometer-long border that divided her native Germany during the Cold War. Using the former border as a prism and a compass for a journey by bicycle and on foot, she investigates the human, societal, and ecological stories surrounding the former German borderland. What was it like to live next to one of the world’s most draconian border systems? How come over 1,200 rare animal and plant species found refuge in the highly militarized border strip—today’s Green Belt? What echoes reverberate in today’s Germany from the time of the division and the time following the fall of the Berlin Wall and Reunification? Pivoting to the present, the book addresses questions of migration, identity, and belonging in light of the proliferation of militarized borders today. Lange concludes by pointing to the glimpse the Green Belt offers into much older landscapes for clues about the ecological dimension of home.
Kerstin Lange
Kerstin Lange is a writer and journalist based in Vermont. Originally from northern Germany and fluent in German, she holds an M.A. in Anthropology and an M.S. in Natural History/Ecology. She has taught in both fields, worked with biological anthropologists among nomads in northwest Kenya, and consulted on natural history-based land management. Lange has published in SAPIENS, Northern Woodlands, The Revelator, and Vermont Quarterly magazines and was a commentator on Vermont Public Radio for ten years. Her mission is to make history and ecology personal.
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Delivery time
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Delivery time 2-3 working days.
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Number of Pages |
364
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Publication date |
07.10.2024
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Language |
English
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Type |
Paperback
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Format |
210,0 mm x 148,0 mm
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ISBN
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978-3-8382-1951-6
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Weight
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476 g
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"This book combines adventure, history, and a narrative of how people lived confronted with the post-WWII environment in Germany. Lange explores consequences and lessons that continue to the present day. Phantom Border tackles the larger issues, the importance of home, and its offshoot into conservation biology and ethics. With verve and clarity, it serves a rich fare for a wide readership. It is a great read."
—Bernd Heinrich, author (Mind of the Raven, The Trees in my Forest, The Snoring Bird, Bumblebee Economics, Winter World, A Year in the Maine Woods, The Homing Instinct
"Lange’s language is beautiful, poetic at just the right moments: a linguistic joy. The book is written with exactly the sensitivity that is needed in matters concerning East and West in today’s Germany. Lange’s own story provides one thread of the book, making for a captivating read and providing an important perspective."
—Andrea Mehrländer, PhD, Executive Director, Academy of Transatlantic Academic Studies
Berlin, Germany
"Lange’s training in both anthropology and natural science has resulted in a valuable perspective on the recent history of Germany. Readers will be moved by insights the book provides into human experiences of both the present and the past along the now former border and will be captivated by the knowledge it offers into the unique biodiversity of the Green Belt. Making this text even more compelling are the many meaningful glimpses we gain from it into Lange’s own personal journey within a society that has undergone significant transformation over the course of her lifetime."
—Gerard A. Weber, PhD, Associate Professor, Anthropology and Sociology, Bronx Community College of the City University of New York
"Phantom Border blends skilled storytelling, highly illustrative writing, and a kind of empathetic reportage that really makes me feel immersed in every scene. Satisfying for mind and heart."
—Phyllis Edgerly Ring, author (The Munich Girl, Snow Fence Road, Life at First Sight)
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