Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History (Fifty Things That Changed the Course of History)

The facts for each of the plants were interesting and informative. Though I did find it hard to read sometimes, going back and having to re-read a section a couple of times. I believe this was because the author was also defining words in the sentence as well as trying to give you the information. By the time you got done reading what the word meant you had to go back a reread to know that the sentence was original saying.I will say again, that I found the information interesting, if not even intriguing. There were a couple of sections that I even marked pages, because I was so interested that I wanted to do further research into an area. There were some facts that I felt the author might have been grasping at straws. For example oranges being linked to malaria or coffee being linked to the Declaration of independence. But in the author defense, some of these facts could have been minor facts supporting or even in addition to the main connection to history.Even with what I feel to be minor setbacks, I quite enjoyed reading this book. Finding the facts intriguing enough to reiterate them to my significant other when I came across something I found interesting. I am also letting/recommending this book to my step father who enjoys books like these. More than likely I will be rereading this book again, and adding it to me "keep books".

Bought the hard cover because at the time it was only about $.50 more than a soft cover. Very interesting info on a variety of plants.

It's a fabulous book with 2-6 pages on each plant chock full of information you never thought of. My only problem with it is the type is very small. Get out your reading glasses, and maybe a magnifier.

"Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History" is an intriguing title but falls short of its promise. The author has selected fifty plants from around the world and provided a 2-4 page profile of each, supplemented by a short list of facts (native habitat, height), images, and sidebars. The stories interweave commercial, medicinal, economic, and social roles played by plants over time, however, it can be a bit disorganized and jumpy at times, and you occasionally find yourself thinking, "so what's the point of this paragraph?"--a better editor could have tightened this up.A major failure is that the author didn't convince me that history changed because of these plants--there's often no clear before-and-after picture drawn by the stories. It might be there, but the author seems distracted by other facts, quotes, or stories that he lost track of the core message. For example, the entry on Wild Cabbage is centered around Clarence Birdseye's development of frozen food, starting with his experience freezing cabbages in his northern Canadian home. Frozen food did introduce major changes in diet (ability to eat foods out of season), household practices (emphasis on convenience, larger home freezers) but they're not even mentioned. Instead, he spends most of the time discussing the inclusion of cabbages in Victory Gardens (which I'm not sure changed history).Perhaps the book should be named "The Fifty Most Important Plants in the World", but then he'd still have difficulties--he neglects to mention cabbage in its pickled form is a defining element in some cultures (as sauerkraut in Germany or kimchee in Korea), providing an important source of nutrition in winter months. Perhaps he didn't conduct sufficient research--the bibliography is superficial and misses much of the recent scholarship on the history of food (for example, John McPhee, Michael Pollan, and Andrew Smith are all absent).If you're seeking scholarship or expecting to understand the watershed moments in food history, you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for a nicely designed book and a light entertaining read about food, you'll enjoy it.

I'm a botany nut and a history nut. I really enjoyed this book relating plants to history. I know ll the plants well, but learned much about the way they were used in the past.

Love this book it is so interesting

much effort was put into the production of this beautiful and interesting volume. I'm glad I bought it: information, color photos, color drawings, high quality paper, special fonts, and very affordable ! the only minus is the font size, a trifle too small. Even so, it's a winner. It also arrived earlier than promissed and very well packaged. great service, too.

I wasn't expecting this to be a good book, but I realized this is one that is to be read cover to cover. The information about each plant (which is only a select few) is so fascinating that it's worth reading all the information about each one rather than skimming over the pages. There are a few photos and illustrations that accompany each plant, so it breaks up the text nicely.

Este libro tiene unas extraordinarias ilustraciones que te llevan a un viaje por las plantas históricas de nuestro planeta. Lo recomiendo como regalo para amantes de la botánica o la jardinería.

Very well researched and presented .. a very welcome addition to our family library .. Thanks to the author's painstaking effort ... appreciated ..

I have spotted several factual errors that make me wonder how well researched and reliable the rest of the book is.Eu encontrei alguns dados errados no livro (fatos empíricos errados e não interpretação errada), que me fazem pensar o quão bem feito e qualificado é o restante do livro.

This is an interesting book to keep and to give for gifts. Amazon makes shopping so easy! I recommend this shopping system to all my friends! sjw

I didn't find this to be a very well written book. The individual entries were often not very engaging and more generally, many lacked a well organized narrative. It's a great book idea - wish I'd thought of it- but not well executed.