The Extraordinary Story of the Apple

Description

The story of apples begins in an unexpected place: with bears. While popular culture likes to link honey with these creatures, DNA evidence shows that it might be more accurate for Winnie the Pooh to be munching on an ancestor of Red Delicious. And while apples are modern America's second favourite fruit (after berries), their origins lie in ancient China. These are just some of the remarkable details that arise from Barrie E. Juniper and David J. Mabberley's The Extraordinary Story of the Apple. Written by two leading botanical experts, it's a complete natural and cultural history of the apple, using DNA evidence, from its origins in China, along the Silk Road to Europe and onto the Americas and Australia.

Barrie E. Juniper is reader emeritus in plant sciences at the University of Oxford; emeritus fellow of St Catherine's College, University of Oxford; and co-author of The Tradescants' Orchard (Bodleian Library, 2013) and The Story of the Apple (Timber Press, 2006). David J. Mabberley is ex-Keeper of the Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and is an Emeritus Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford, Adjunct Professor at Macquarie University, Sydney, and Professor Extraordinary at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. He is a member of the Order of Australia (AM). He is the author of Mabberley's Plant Book (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and co-author of The Story of the Apple (Timber Press, 2006).

"In this wonderfully illustrated book, including 100 paintings and 100 photographs, Barrie Juniper and David Mabberley detail the cultural history of his quintessential English fruit... there is so much to learn that you will never look at your orchard with the same blinkered eyes again. This is the ultimate accessible academic apple volume."-- "The Field" "This is a long and thoughtful book by renowned botanical experts, which considers both the geographical history of the apple and its influence on human civilisation through the eras... Richly illustrated throughout, this is a comprehensive and thoughtful tome, which will delight anyone who enjoys the more in-depth approach."-- "The English Garden"