Summary of Kevin Bales's Blood and Earth

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The German tombstone shortage is because the government controls death and funerals, and they require embalming before burial. This leads to a darkly humorous saying: If you feel unwell, take a vacation—you can’t afford to die in Germany.

#2 Slavery is a great way to keep your costs down, but there is another reason why the granite is so cheap: the quarries are illegal, paying no mining permits or taxes.

#3 The industry of tombstones is built on the idea that stone can come from as close as California and South Dakota or as far away as China and India. In reality, it comes from India, where slave-produced granite is cheap.

#4 Cellphones have become electronic umbilical cords that connect us with our children, partners, and parents. But just as each of us is deeper than our surface, so are the tools and toys and food and rings that tie us together.