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 in the American colonies. But it was not 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: Philip Miller, author of the bestselling "Gardeners Dictionary"; the Swede Carl Linnaeus, whose standardised botanical nomenclature popularised botany; and, the botanist-adventurer Joseph Banks and his colleague Daniel Solander who both explored the strange flora of Tahiti and Australia on Captain Cook's Endeavour. This is the story of these men - friends, rivals, enemies, united by a passion for plants. Set against the backdrop of the emerging empire and the uncharted world beyond, "The Brother Gardeners" tells the story how Britain became a nation of gardeners.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21315 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

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.'

Customer Reviews

History of early Botany - written in the traditional style.
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.

Entertaining and delightful
This book shed light on lots of characters I only knew by name. The remarkably awkward egocentric Linnaeus, who invented the sexual system of plant classification; Captain Bligh, who returned from the mutinous expedition to captain the first expedition to bring back live plants from the tropics; Joseph Banks, who was with Captain Cook on the first british expedition to Australia and founded Kew Gardens. I enjoyed Jenny Uglow's The Lunar Men but I enjoyed this book even more.

An utterly charming and surprising birthday present from my daughter
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.