Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination
by Richard Mabey
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Readers' rating:
Published Jan 2016
400 pages
Genre: Science, Health and the Environment
Publication Information
The crowning achievement of "Britain's foremost nature writer" (New York Times) - a globe-trotting exploration of botany and human experience.
The Cabaret of Plants is a rich, sweeping work of botanical history by the illustrious naturalist Richard Mabey. Plants have been central to human experience not just as sources of food and medicine but also as objects of worship, actors in creation myths, and symbols of war and peace and of life and death. Mabey explores forty different plant species, taking readers from the Himalayas to Madagascar to the Amazon to our own backyards. Through the work of the likes of da Vinci, Wordsworth, Darwin, and van Gogh, Mabey recounts how papyrus changed communication, how the olive branch came to represent peace, and how the lotus flower is influencing new technology. Here too are the stories of our abiding love of and dependence on acorns, daffodils, cocoa beans, and orchids. The Cabaret of Plants is the magnum opus of one of our great naturalists and a masterful exploration of the complex relationship between humans and the natural world. 35 color illustrations
"Starred Review. An unusual and vastly entertaining journey into the world of mysterious plant life as experienced by a gifted nature writer." - Kirkus
"Mabey is delightfully eclectic in his approach, often touching on those species with which he has a personal connection, but he consistently advances his central theme while providing interesting insights and opinions." - Publishers Weekly
"I've been trying to read this for two weeks and I'm not even halfway through - it's making my eyes glaze over." - BookBrowse
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