Now in paperback, this beautifully written and gorgeously produced book describes the remarkable lives and times of the John Tradescants, father and son. In 17th-century Britain, a new breed of "curious" gardeners was pushing at the frontiers of knowledge and new plants were stealing into Europe from East and West. John Tradescant and his son were at the vanguard of this change--as gardeners, as collectors, and above all as exemplars of an age that began in wonder and ended with the dawning of science. Meticulously researched and vividly evoking the drama of their lives, this book takes...

For fans of Anna Pavord's "The Tulip" and Andrea Wulf's "The Brothers Gardener," a vividly written and lavishly illustrated history of the Queen of FlowersEver since Sappho planted roses at the shrine of Aphrodite, no flower has captured theimagination in quite the same way. Here, the acclaimed horticultural historian Jennifer Potter sets out on a quest to uncover the life of a flower that has been viewed so hetrogenously by different cultures in different countries across the centuries. Beginning her story in the Greek and Roman empires, she travels across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and...

The lotus, lily, sunflower, opium poppy, rose, tulip and orchid - each embodies a different kind of power, and each has a story to tell that will take you by surprise. Jennifer Potter tracks these flowers across the globe as she examines their influence on human societies and reveals some astonishing truths.

'Compelling... A real pleasure to read.' - BBC History Magazine In 1621, fifty-six English women crossed the Atlantic in response to the Virginia Company of London's call for maids 'young and uncorrupt' to make wives for the planters of its new colony in Virginia.While the women travelled of their own accord, the company was in effect selling them at a profit for a bride price of 150 lbs of tobacco for each woman sold. The rewards would flow to investors in the near-bankrupt company. But what did the women want from the enterprise? Why did they agree to make the perilous crossing to a...