Death in the Garden
Poisonous Plants & Their Use Throughout History
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- £0.99
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
"Readers who enjoy plants and offbeat tales will find Brown's book a happy mix" (Publishers Weekly).
Mankind has always had a morbid fascination with poisonous plants. Over the centuries, poisonous plants have been used to remove garden pests—as well as unwanted rivals and deceitful partners. They have also been used for their medicinal qualities, as rather dangerous cosmetics, and even to help seduce a lover when perceived as an aphrodisiac. Some of these and other uses originate in a medieval book that has not yet been translated into English. This book delves into the history of these plants, covering such topics as:
How shamans and priests used these plants for their magical attributes, as a means to foretell the future or to commune with the godsHow a pot of basil helped to conceal a savage murderThe truth about the mysterious mandrakeA conundrum written by Jane Austen to entertain her family—the answer to which is one of the plants in this book
These stories and many more will enlighten you on these treacherous and peculiar plants, their defensive and deadly traits, the facts behind them, and the folklore that has grown around them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gardener and lecturer Brown offers a hokey reference guide to poisonous plants that's heavier on entertainment than education. Brown begins with short overviews of different aspects of poisonous plants, including a chapter on the use of poisoned clothing in folklore, the properties of poisonous plants, and literary references to poison. His five-page history of poisons only skims the surface, merely nodding toward the use of poisoning in the Roman Empire, when assassination by toxins in food and drink was not uncommon. The bulk of the book contains profiles of different varieties of deadly flora with quirky stories of fatal uses. Readers learn that monkshire, for example, was used as recently as 2009 by a jilted lover in Britain to poison her former beau's meal in what became known as the Curry Murder. The myth around mandrake, a plant that appears in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, is that screams can be heard when it's pulled from the ground. The entry on basil, which Brown admits is not actually poisonous, recounts a popular Italian folktale about a young girl who buries her lover's head underneath a basil plant. Readers who enjoy plants and offbeat tales will find Brown's book a happy mix, but those seeking a more systematic or scientific guide should look elsewhere.
