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Torre's Cactus is part of Reaktion's "Botanical" series. The publisher describes this series as "integrating horticultural and botanical writing with a broader account of the cultural and social impact of trees, plants and flowers." This delightful series is accessible and worthwhile for general readers who are interested in plants, history, or art. Covering the history of human interaction with cacti and especially cactus-inspired art, this work is a fascinating ingress into all things cacti. This new world plant family is a group species with morphologies that are starkly distinctive from the rest of the plant world. The work includes a substantial number of illustrations, including many historical drawings, artwork, and photographs of cacti. The book contains endnotes, a page of further reading suggestions, a short list of cacti-related associations and websites, and a chronology. The index contains some subdivisions but also includes long strings of page numbers. This work will appeal to a broad range of readers, and is strongly recommended for public libraries and academic institutions.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers.

In this fascinating, well-researched history of genetic innovation, Curry (history of modern science and technology, Univ. of Cambridge, UK) explores the hype, intensive investigation, and, ultimately, the disappointment accompanying the application of new technologies offering the promise of human control over plant evolution to breed superior agricultural and horticultural crops in the early to mid-20th century. The utilization of these tools for plant breeding is placed in the broader context of innovations in the electromechanical, chemical, and nuclear industries and the desire to control living organisms in a manner similar to any other industrial product. Certain historical events, such as America's entry into World War II and the subsequent desire for national self-sufficiency that developed, helped fuel the hope that these technologies could deliver the necessary genetic advances, despite the available evidence to the contrary. Fascinating and entertaining throughout, this historical account of genetic technological innovation helps provide context for discussion over current, and by every measure much more successful, genetic engineering technologies utilized for plant improvement and the societal, ethical, and ecological questions surrounding them.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; faculty, professionals, general readers.

This is a needed book for garden and cultural historians. While there are volumes galore about the triumph of English landscape gardens and their practitioners and patrons, there is precious little written about the (often great) gardens destroyed to create the familiar celebration of the glorification of the English countryside as exemplified by the works of Lancelot "Capability" Brown and his brethren. Prior to their triumph, England had magnificent Italian, Anglo-Dutch, and French-style gardens--some of which equaled or surpassed the most celebrated of existing gardens on the Continent. The restored gardens of Hampton Court Palace remind us of what was lost. The Victorians and the Edwardians tried to recapture the lost ambivalence in their gardens. Unlike most big garden books, Jacques's is not filled with marvelous color photographs of gardens because the gardens no longer exist. Rather, there is an abundance of contemporary paintings and plans of gardens--all reproduced to best advantage. In the very best sense of the phrase, this is a scholars' book: thoughtful and comprehensive. The section on American gardens is appreciated. In summation, this is a wonderfully researched and designed, precious gem.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above; professionals and general readers.

This reviewer has used Landscapes and Gardens for Historic Buildings since its original publication in 1978. It is that rare book, concise and packed with easy-to-access information, much of it unique. In subsequent years, this pioneering effort inspired other publications--many of them valuable--but none ever surpassed the work under review. This new edition is no mere reprinting with a pretty new cover (although it has one). It is extensively updated with new information, as one would expect over the course of 40 years. Notably, the lists of "Authentic Plants for Period Landscape Settings" are expanded. Additional illustrations, including several in color, are added. Other material was deleted because alternative sources emerged. For example, the volume no longer includes a list of sources for plants because one can easily Google any plant by its botanical (Latin) name to find a supplier. The book remains accessible and well-indexed. The original edition reflected the authors' young careers as accomplished professionals; this new one is the summa of long, accomplishment-filled lives. This book is appropriate for all readers.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

One might think that a book on pecans would garner interest from relatively few botanical or horticultural specialists, but one would be wrong. This is a remarkable, rich narrative of North America's most commercially successful native nut species. Rather than organize the book systematically, Wells (Univ. of Georgia) intersperses the complex natural history of the pecan with accounts of prehistoric cultures, European exploration, cultivation techniques, taxonomy, botany, genetics, geography, agricultural practices, and the storied history of the United States. Particularly fascinating is that while many domesticated crop plant species have long histories of selective breeding, the comparative recency of pecan cultivation presents numerous challenges for its growers. The innate mechanisms of sexual reproduction that favor genetic diversity have been challenging for pecan breeders searching for the most desirable mix of nut quality, shell thinness, and resistance to disease and environmental stresses. Add to this that pecans are grown widely across the southern United States, in some places far from their historic, native range, and each region has adopted different practices to maximize pecan production in the most sustainable ways. Pecan is both exceedingly informative and entertaining.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

Fisher is the author of numerous books about flowers in art. The work under review belongs to Reaktion's "Botanical" series. Tulips are truly beautiful flowers that have become one of the most common and easily recognized garden plants. Fisher follows these flowers throughout the course of history--from their wild origins to their horticultural development in Asia and Europe. This work is an engrossing introduction to one of the world's most loved horticultural taxa. The book includes a substantial number of illustrations, including historical artwork and contemporary photographs. Additionally, the text offers endnotes, a short listing of tulip-related associations and suppliers, and a chronology. Like other works in this series, Tulip is incredibly readable and worthwhile for general readers who are interested in horticulture, botany, history, or art. Fisher's other written works on Western floral art will also be of interest to those intrigued by the topic. The text is strongly recommended for public libraries and academic institutions.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

Editors Karson, executive director of the Library of American Landscape History, Brown, an author, and Allaback, managing editor at the Library of American Landscape History, provide an excellent review of Warren H. Manning's life and work, offering a brief biography and short reviews of 62 of his projects spread across 18 states. Manning (1860-1938) was a noted American landscape architect, responsible for over 1,600 public and private projects throughout the United States and Canada. Leaving Frederick Law Olmsted's firm to start his own practice at 36, Manning was a founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects and pushed for the creation of the National Park Service, reflecting his national-scale perspective on natural resources and planning, which resonated down to his project scale of town parks and homesteads. Each project review within the work includes Manning's planning sketches, along with historical and current photographs. Casual readers will be delighted to discover how many of his projects they are familiar with, and practitioners and professionals will find this to be an invaluable guide to what is known about Manning's life and work, and what remains to be discovered.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.