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A review by rossbm
The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia Shah
(listened as audiobook)
What's it about?
I only listened to first five hours of ten hour book, so I might not have the whole story. But in the first half, it is mostly debunking criticisms of migration. It starts off with the author's story: she is the child of American immigrants. It then discusses some contemporary (~2016-18?) news items from the US that criticize (mostly) illegal immigration. It touches upon the European "migrant crisis" of the 2010's. Then the story moves back in time, to a Swedish natural historian who classified humans into different groups. I stopped right after the debunking of the lemming suicide march, as Malthus began to be discussed.
What's it about?
Honestly, I should give the book 1 star. I didn't finish it, and I finish most books that I start. The topic sounds interesting, I am interested in migration. The book wasn't what I expected. I thought it would be about migration, not tangentially covering migration while focusing on criticisms of migration. I thought it would discuss the prehistoric migrations out of Africa, across Asia-Europe and into the Americas. I thought it might discuss the history of migration to the US, or the great displacements after the World Wars. Instead, some arguments against migration are shown to be false and lacking in rigour. Unfortunately, this book also lacks rigour. There is very little data, and not much direct discussion of the ostensible topic.
What's it about?
I only listened to first five hours of ten hour book, so I might not have the whole story. But in the first half, it is mostly debunking criticisms of migration. It starts off with the author's story: she is the child of American immigrants. It then discusses some contemporary (~2016-18?) news items from the US that criticize (mostly) illegal immigration. It touches upon the European "migrant crisis" of the 2010's. Then the story moves back in time, to a Swedish natural historian who classified humans into different groups. I stopped right after the debunking of the lemming suicide march, as Malthus began to be discussed.
What's it about?
Honestly, I should give the book 1 star. I didn't finish it, and I finish most books that I start. The topic sounds interesting, I am interested in migration. The book wasn't what I expected. I thought it would be about migration, not tangentially covering migration while focusing on criticisms of migration. I thought it would discuss the prehistoric migrations out of Africa, across Asia-Europe and into the Americas. I thought it might discuss the history of migration to the US, or the great displacements after the World Wars. Instead, some arguments against migration are shown to be false and lacking in rigour. Unfortunately, this book also lacks rigour. There is very little data, and not much direct discussion of the ostensible topic.