Product Description

'With passion and commitment thousands of "small" people built Eden as a symbol of hope in action...We may all have feet of clay, but that shouldn't stop us trying to make a difference. Wouldn't we all rather look back and say, "I'm glad I did," rather than "I wish I had"? Some might smile at the naivety of such ambition, believing it to be impossible. We say, "Demand the impossible".' So said Tim Smit and thus was the impossible delivered: a living theatre of plants and people and their interdependence, housed in a disused china clay pit and featuring the world's largest greenhouses. Well over five million visitors have since made their way to Eden, drawn by the astonishing, visionary ambition of its founders. This is Tim's story of how it all came about: the Project's genesis in the Lost Gardens of Heligan, its design and construction against all the odds, its supremely talented team of larger-than-life personalities. Above all, how the energy that brought the vision to life is being applied to possible futures. It is a vision for all to share.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55018 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 329 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Tim Smit, author of Eden, is obsessed with horticulture (no mere "gardening" for him). In restoring the Lost Gardens of Heligan he has become an acolyte of a great, though rarely remembered, philosophy--one that ties our welfare as a species to our relationship with plants.

The Eden Project is, in his own statement: "a vast complex of soap bubble-shaped greenhouses (the largest in the world) which interpret and explain our dependence upon the plant kingdom." Eden the book is his definitive account of the project from its beginnings--an account handsomely and often wittily illustrated (a good gift book). More importantly, it is well written.

Smit is trenchant about his aims: "Why, for God’s sake, put yourself...through years of grief to build a crappy theme park so that some smartass can define it in a sentence?" he asks. By creating something more than a mere "product"--and by doing it in an old clay pit in Cornwall--Smit and his colleagues faced daunting challenges. Larger-than-life characters pepper the book which is more about people than plants.

Well over a million people have already visited the Eden Project. But this book is more than a celebration, more than a memento; it is too honest and exhaustive to be a mere statement of vision. It is, all in all, a rather unlikely bestseller--a contender for best business book of the year. --Simon Ings

From the Back Cover
From the sterile depths of a disused china clay pit in Cornwall has risen one of the most remarkable and ambitious ventures in recent memory. The Eden Project's iconic biomes, the world's largest conservatories, are the symbol of a living theatre of plants and people, of regeneration and of a pioneering forum for the exploration of possible futures.

Tim Smit and his team working on the restoration of the Lost Gardens of Heligan realized very quickly that plants, even the humble potato, had stories to tell that could fire the imagination. How to tell them? There was no room at Heligan for the ambitious buildings required. Why not build them in one of the many derelict pits that dotted this part of Cornwall? The vision inspired botanists, engineers, architects, artists - and, crucially, financiers both public and private. In March 2001 Eden opened its doors to the world, and over two million visitors have flocked there since.

This is the extraordinary story of the Eden Project, of its conception, design and construction, and of the larger-than-life personalities who made it happen. It is the story of how the hope and energy of many men and women transformed a thrilling idea into a breathtaking reality.

About the Author
Tim Smit is Chief Executive and co-founder of the Eden Project, near St Austell in Cornwall. He is also on the board of the Prince's Trust Business division, a member of the Cornwall Gardens Trust and a Director of Kneehigh Theatre. He recently chaired the Landscape Heritage Trust's feasibility study of urban parks and gardens throughout the UK and presented their findings to the government Select Committee on the Environment. In 2000 he was given the Outstanding Contribution to Tourism in the UK Award by the English Tourism Council. He lives with his wife and family in Cornwall.

Customer Reviews

Inspirational Eden
Tim Smit provides an insight into the group vision that resulted in one of the more successful Millennium projects - Eden. And the fact that it is the work of a committed 'group' of people is not lost on the reader. Smit regularly repeats the mantra that Eden was only developed thanks to the work of a wide range of individuals from contractors to councils, and not forgetting the plant-men.

If you want to understand some details behind the way such projects are developed then this is a book you should read. When the project was floundering while all the funding partners came together then Tim Smit was there and he relives it through the book. Sometimes you wonder how it call came together.

On the other hand, if you are a plant-lover, gardener or horticulturalist then this is also a book you should read. Smit tells the fascinating story of the development of the biome concepts and the plants they chose to grow. More importantly he discusses the relationship between man and the natural surroundings we inhabit; debating our fragile relationship with a range of environments along the way.

However, what you take from this book is a mixture of all of the above. Landscaping, plant husbandry and environmental considerations sit alongside planning, funding, road building and visitor education projects. It's one man's personal account rather than a definitive history and the cast of characters seems endless and, sometimes, confusing. However, the determination and vision that drove the project; the commitment and enthusiasm of all the people and the role Eden believes it should be playing on the world stage are all presented in an accessible, very readable account of, what seems to have been, a long but successful process. If this book doesn't inspire you to aim higher and better, then nothing will.

Fascinating true story with wit and charm, but tangent-laden
A fascinating account of an ambitious and daring project. Those who have been to Eden will agree that it has achieved so much of what Tim and his colleagues set out to achieve.

The book is, like Eden, so many things. A gripping (true) yarn, an educational piece, something which makes you question society and global issues and finally an insight into one intelligent and individual man crusade to be independant and do something meaningful.

Overall, you finish this book wanting to leave the house and visit Eden right this minute - even if you've just been there. You also want to meet co-founder Tim Smit - who, by the way, desevedly earned a CBE for his genius - and discover what else he has written.

Whilst Tim's cultivated eccenticity and orderly randomness are things which make both the book and the Eden Project so amazing, they also form the book's sole failing. The closely juxtaposed narratives on architecture, social history, ecology, managing people, horticulture, struggle, education and major project building make for a very entertaining read.

However, missing from that list are the legal, financial and political battles which seemed to have been Eden's most formidable and boring enemies - yet they feature very heavily in sections of the book. Sadly they're inevitable from these projects, and waste a lot of public and charitable money, and perhaps these are two reasons why Tim shouldn't have focussed so heavily on them in this otherwise uplifting and fascinating book. I'm sure they'd fit nicer in a separate specialist book.

Eden
A refreshingly frank and honest account about raising £150m for 'The Worlds Largest Greenhouse'. Not only does it raise your awareness of what regeneration is all about but Eden is also a compelling account of how to never give up on an idea you believe in; throughout the book Smit reminds himself he's going to see the project through to the end; where lesser men would have given up, or succumb to comprimise. This is the stuff of heroes but it aint fiction. Just becuase a company may help fund the project at the beginning doesnt mean they get the contract at the end. You often ask yourself how did he convince so many people whom must have been fairly major players themselves? As the the initial idea does the rounds of commissioners and local government funding you soon get an idea of what raising such a vast amount of money is all about and the fact that the end result is pretty much what Smit originally concieved is just awesome.