The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession

Product Details

Author : Andrea Wulf
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780434016129
Number of Pages : 350
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 2008-04-03
Publisher : William Heinemann Ltd

ASIN : 0434016128

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for "This Other Eden": 'Masterfully told history of English gardens' - "Financial Times". 'A tale of plants, politics and passion' - "Sunday Express". 'This is a smart and readable combination of social history, politics, biography and drama ...written with real enthusiasm and expertise..."This Other Eden" is a delightful hybrid of novel and reference book' - "The Guardian". 'A book of considerable charm, an ideal present not only for those with a declared interest in garden history' - "House & Garden". 'Delectable, serious and beautifully illustrated' - "Literary Review".

Scotland on Sunday

`A 'biography' of the quintessential English garden, taking in Captain Cook, Carl Linnaeus, and the simultaneous rise of the British Empire and flower arranging - a delightful look at horticultural history.'

Mark Cocker, The Guardian

'Wulf's portrait of the "brothers" ... is rounded, generous and exhaustively researched. She is particularly good at showing the links between botany and the wider political life of 18th-century England ... she is very adept at telling a good story, and in the history and origins of gardening she has found the perfect vehicle.
The Brother Gardeners is an excellent, hugely entertaining and instructive tale, and Wulf tells it well.'

Jennifer Potter, TLS

'As Wulf triumphantly shows, plants and gardens reveal a wider view of the forces that shape society ... An antidote to dry garden history; rarely has the story of English plants been told with such vigour, and such fun.'

Book Description

A wonderfully readable investigation of the origins of the modern garden in 18th-century England, told through the interwoven stories of four Englishmen , a Swede and an American. Popular history at its finest.

Leo Hollis, Independent on Sunday

`The best book this year is The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession'

Tim Richardson, Country Life

Engrossing history of botanical obsession in England in the 18th century ... seamless tale ... the author has a good eye for interesting detail and a fine sense of literary economy ... a gripping story, told here with grace and aplomb.

Jenny Uglow, Sunday Telegraph

`This absorbing and delightful book about 18th-century botanists stands out among histories of plant hunting because it treats of collective endeavours, rather than daring individual missions. It is about friendships, frustrations and rows, as well as about new species. The approach works superbly because Andrea Wulf makes us see her subjects so vividly .'

Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday

`Andrea Wulf has written a wonderful book, using a clutch of fascinating men to remind us the British Empire was once as much about white pine and Camellia japonica as it was about guns and steel ... enthralling story ... brilliantly readable book.'

Product Description

One January morning in 1734, cloth merchant Peter Collinson hurried down to the docks at London's Custom House to collect cargo just arrived from John Bartram, his new contact in the American colonies. But it was not reels of wool or bales of cotton that awaited him, but plants and seeds...Over the next forty years, Bartram would send hundreds of American species to England, where Collinson was one of a handful of men who would foster a national obsession and change the gardens of Britain forever, introducing lustrous evergreens, fiery autumn foliage and colourful shrubs.They were men of wealth and taste but also of knowledge and experience like Philip Miller, author of the bestselling "Gardeners Dictionary", and the Swede Carl Linnaeus, whose standardised botanical nomenclature popularised botany as a genteel pastime for the middle-classes; and the botanist-adventurer Joseph Banks and his colleague Daniel Solander who both explored the strange flora of Tahiti and Australia on the greatest voyage of discovery of modern times, Captain Cook's Endeavour. This is the story of these men - friends, rivals, enemies, united by a passion for plants - whose correspondence, collaborations and squabbles make for a riveting human tale which is set against the backdrop of the emerging empire, the uncharted world beyond and London as the capital of science.From the scent of the exotic blooms in Tahiti and Botany Bay to the gardens at Chelsea and Kew, and from the sounds and colours of the streets of the City to the staggering vistas of the Appalachian mountains, "The Brother Gardeners" tells the story how Britain became a nation of gardeners.

Customer Reviews

History of early Botany - written in the traditional style. (2008-08-28)

I had this bought for me last Christmas and I must admit feel a bit sheepish having only just read it. In short, it is the history of the early British botanists from the 1700s and the accompanying revolution in plant cultivation, horticulture and general botanical discovery. One of those subject areas that always fascinates but is hardly touched upon by history curricula in school or college. I particularly enjoyed the written style of Andrea Wulf's text. It was reminiscent of Arthur Bryant's 'Set in a Silver Sea'. That is to say, history written as an Arts subject rather than a political or social science, which it so often is these days. A lively, rich and entertaining narrative that produces a truly interesting book on our national craze.

An utterly charming and surprising birthday present from my daughter (2008-04-08)

Happy 63rd birthday to me! My daughter gave me this book on saturday knowing I am obsesed with gardening and spend all my time, according to her, up to me elbows in manure (manure is a polite version of the word she actually used!). I am not generally a great fan of history - probably becaue of school, ie give me a nursery plantlist every time - but I loved this book. Amazing to find out that so many of the plants I grow (and sweat so much blood over) aren't British. Full of great nuggets, so thank you Marianne.

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• Subjects > History
• Subjects > History > Social & Economic History
• Subjects > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Botany & Plant Sciences

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