Book Review - Fifty plants that changed the course of History

This is a book I've been wanting to read for a while and finally I treated myself when I found it reduced and then it's been sitting in my book mountain waiting to be read. It's a book you can dip in and out of, or as I did, read it from cover to cover. If like me you like plants, fascinating and mad facts and history then you'll quite possibly like this book. 

A still life of history changing plants

The author has chosen fifty plants that have changed the course of history, be they as a food, medicine, drug, causer of war or influencer of economy. Our earth is home to between 25000 and 30000 plants so to choose 50 is quite a feat! Plants have been around for around 470 million years and humans just a tiny speck of time in comparison and with our rapidly changing climate, our relationship with plants and our planet has never been more important. 

Bamboo has over 1400 species in the world and uses from 
scaffolding to arrows, windmills to houses and medicine
 to cosmetics

Arranged alphabetically by latin name this book takes you on a journey across the globe and through time. Form Agave to ginger via drugs, alcohol, food and medicine. It is a well written and illustrated book with many historical prints and illustrations and I've learned many interesting facts about common plants as I've read through the book. I also had a lot of fun doing the photography for this book review.

"Concerning the hop: as a result of it's own bitterness it keeps 
some putrefaction from drink to which it's been added so they 
may last so much longer" - Abbess Hildgarden of Bingen,
 Physica sacra, c.1150

Country people have been laying down their autumn wines
 for over 5000 years, it wasn't until the Romans took to exploiting 
the grape vine that wine went global

Nutmeg, who knew such a little thing could cause so much trouble. The origin of the spice was a closely guarded secret from the Indian Ocean islands until the 1600s when the worlds first multinational, the Dutch East India Company elbowed their competitors out of the market using unscrupulous and colonial methods to the detriment of any who dared to try and smuggle nutmegs to other countries

I love my nutmegs in their outer case, a gift from a friend, I've never used them,
I like them as they are

As well as being pretty in the garden or a vase, all these plant
have changed the world and history
From healthy seeds and cooking oil to modern art, the sunflower has a diverse collection of
uses, but mostly I think it looks best in the garden

Crab apples: from little apples come all the varieties we
grow and eat today, cider, apple pies, myths and legends

Spices, an expensive, exotic commodity for centuries, some worth more than gold at times.
So many common phrases we use today also come from how or where these plants
were grown. 



A cure for scurvy. a lucrative crop for californian settlers and a reason for lords and kings to
 build orangeries on their estates

Opium poppies, from a medical break through to addiction and chaos





Fifty plants that changed the course of history by Bill Laws, New Burlington Books, 2016.
ISBN - 978-0-85762-486-4
£14.99




Previous book reviews:

Gardens in Time and Space by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury

The Well Tempered Garden by Christoher Lloyd 

Hummelo by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury

RHS Botany for Gardeners

The Jewel Garden by Monty ans Sarah Don



If you are interested to see what else is on my garden book shelves have a look at this blog

My Gardening book shelves. Happy reading!




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