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Against the Grain : A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott is a history book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Against the Grain : A Deep History of the Earliest States about?

An Economist Best History Book 2017 “History as it should be written.”—Barry Cunliffe, Guardian “Scott hits the nail squarely on the head by exposing the staggering price our ancestors paid for civilization and political order.”—Walter Scheidel, Financial Times Why did humans abandon hunting and gathering for sedentary communities dependent on livestock and cereal grains, and governed by precursors of today's states? Most people believe that plant and animal domestication allowed humans, finally, to settle down and form agricultural villages, towns, and states, which made possible civilization, law, public order, and a presumably secure way of living. But archaeological and historical evidence challenges this narrative. The first agrarian states, says James C. Scott, were born of accumulations of domestications: first fire, then plants, livestock, subjects of the state, captives, and finally women in the patriarchal family—all of which can be viewed as a way of gaining control over reproduction. Scott explores why we avoided sedentism and plow agriculture, the advantages of mobile subsistence, the unforeseeable disease epidemics arising from crowding plants, animals, and grain, and

Who reads Against the Grain : A Deep History of the Earliest States?

Author

James C. Scott

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published

2017

Language

EN

ISBN

9780300182910

Category

history

Subjects

History, Science, Agriculture

Rating

4.5 / 5 (908 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14