First part was great, giving the history of property and surveying in 16th and 17th century England, which helped set the system in America today. In the middle of the book, the author gets bogged down in the politics of England, France, and the US in the 1780s through the 1800s, and also tries to explain too much, as he goes into weights and measures (arguably related to land surveying). This is a pretty ambitious project for one thin volume.

Share/Like this Review?