- Published: 1 April 2009
- ISBN: 9780099502371
- Imprint: Windmill Books
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 384
- RRP: $39.99
The Brother Gardeners
Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession
- Published: 1 April 2009
- ISBN: 9780099502371
- Imprint: Windmill Books
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 384
- RRP: $39.99
This absorbing and delightful book about 18th-century botanists stands out among histories of plant hunting ... Works superbly
Jenny Uglow, Sunday Telegraph
Rounded, generous and exhaustively researched ... She is very adept at telling a good story, and in the history and origins of gardening she has found the perfect vehicle ... An excellent, hugely entertaining and instructive tale, and Wulf tells it very well
Mark Cocker, The Guardian
Wondrous ... I have learned so much from her book
Jon Snow, Channel Four News
A delightful book ... Remarkably vivid
Adrian Tinniswood
Engrossing ... A gripping story, told here with grace and aplomb
Tim Richardson, Country Life
Wonderful ... A fascinating read
Steven Poole
Fabulous ... What an incredible account of an amazing century
Kim Wilde
A wondrous telling of the history of the very English love affair with gardens and growing things
Jon Snow, Channel Four News
The Brother Gardeners is a delightful book. It brings the story of 18th-century gardening to life in a remarkably vivid way, and sheds new light on the personality clashes and prejudices which lay at the root of the Georgians' passion for plants
Adrian Tinniswood
The Brother Gardeners were a group of men involved in the 18th-century quest for new plants, at a fascinating period in garden history. Andrea Wulf brings their personalities vividly to life in her thoroughly researched and lively account.
Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall
A totally engrossing read
Rosie Atkins, Curator, Chelsea Physic Garden
Immaculately written and researched, this book brings to life the dramas and dangers of eighteenth-century plant collecting
Catherine Horwood
[An] engrossing history of botanical obsession in England in the 18th century ... The author has a good eye for interesting detail and a fine sense of literary economy
Tim Richardson, Country Life
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
Scotland on Sunday
As Wulf triumphantly shows, plants and gardens reveal a wider view of the forces that shape society ... An antidote to dry garden history; rarely has the story of English plants been told with such vigour, and such fun
Jennifer Potter, TLS
The best book this year is The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession
Leo Hollis, Independent on Sunday
Andrea Wulf has written a wonderful book, using a clutch of fascinating men to remind us the British Empire was once as much about white pine and Camellia japonica as it was about guns and steel ... enthralling story ... brilliantly readable book
Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday