A great little guide, 22 Nov 2008
This is a great book to give more detail on this sort of wild food for anyone learning survival skills or bushcraft. I recently bought it to accompany the new Trueways Survival Skills with John 'Lofty' Wiseman [Interactive DVD] - together they make a superb way to quickly get up to speed with living off the land and especially survival skills or bushcraft.

To summarise, this is a great little book.

Interesting and Informative, 10 Aug 2007
All the Collins Gem books are great for keeping in your pocket if you are out on a field trip for the day and this one is no exception. The photographs are first class and the descriptions of the individual fungi clear and concise. The book describes almost 240 different species of mushroom and toadstool (when you've read the book you will know the difference). Their habitats, size, appearance and also whether they are poisonous or not.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and with fungi it could be fatal. The book goes out of its way to show which fungi are edible and which are poisonous. Personally I prefer to err on the side of caution and buy mine from the supermarket.

A very compact source of good information, 09 Aug 2007
I went on a fungas foray with the author of this book last year and it was extremely interesting and great fun. This book, although small, is packed full of the stuff I learned and much more information that gives me the confidence to go hunting on my own. It's the perfect size to pop in your pocket or basket while out walking.

One of the great things about it is that it identifies other species that can be confused with what you might have found. This allows you to double check and should make any mushroom hunting a lot safer.

a good pocket-sized guide, well illustrated, 28 Nov 2002
This little guide identifies a wide selection of funghi by reference to excellent photographs - much better than many of the artists' representations in some of the larger, dearer and more scholarly books.
There are short,sharp details about habitat, season and something of each specimen's histology. The book errs on the side of caution when dealing with edibility - so this is a book which could be given to a keen young explorer without too much risk of poisoning!
We keep a copy in the foraging basket, and refer to the more heavyweight volumes when we get home. It has much to recommend it.

A great little guide, 22 Nov 2008
This is a great book to give more detail on this sort of wild food for anyone learning survival skills or bushcraft. I recently bought it to accompany the new Trueways Survival Skills with John 'Lofty' Wiseman [Interactive DVD] - together they make a superb way to quickly get up to speed with living off the land and especially survival skills or bushcraft.

To summarise, this is a great little book.

Interesting and Informative, 10 Aug 2007
All the Collins Gem books are great for keeping in your pocket if you are out on a field trip for the day and this one is no exception. The photographs are first class and the descriptions of the individual fungi clear and concise. The book describes almost 240 different species of mushroom and toadstool (when you've read the book you will know the difference). Their habitats, size, appearance and also whether they are poisonous or not.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and with fungi it could be fatal. The book goes out of its way to show which fungi are edible and which are poisonous. Personally I prefer to err on the side of caution and buy mine from the supermarket.

A very compact source of good information, 09 Aug 2007
I went on a fungas foray with the author of this book last year and it was extremely interesting and great fun. This book, although small, is packed full of the stuff I learned and much more information that gives me the confidence to go hunting on my own. It's the perfect size to pop in your pocket or basket while out walking.

One of the great things about it is that it identifies other species that can be confused with what you might have found. This allows you to double check and should make any mushroom hunting a lot safer.

a good pocket-sized guide, well illustrated, 28 Nov 2002
This little guide identifies a wide selection of funghi by reference to excellent photographs - much better than many of the artists' representations in some of the larger, dearer and more scholarly books.
There are short,sharp details about habitat, season and something of each specimen's histology. The book errs on the side of caution when dealing with edibility - so this is a book which could be given to a keen young explorer without too much risk of poisoning!
We keep a copy in the foraging basket, and refer to the more heavyweight volumes when we get home. It has much to recommend it.

How come I didn't notice all the smugness? , 10 Sep 2008
A few other reviews have drawn attention to Barbara Kingsolver's "smugness", including one person who liked the book but doesn't want her round for dinner.

I'm usually really sensitive to people being a bit too pleased with themselves, but I didn't think this book was like that at all. I thought it was touchingly hilarious about the weeks that they ended up just bottling tomatoes for days on end. And I loved all the information about intensive farming, agribusiness seed companies, and terminator genes - like a good article in the Sunday paper.

Most of all I found the book really inspiring. It made me pay attention to where my food came from, much more than I already did. I have always tried to eat seasonally and avoided food imports, but I found myself really being intrigued by her model, where you stuff your face with a couple of foodstuffs until you are heartily sick of them, by which time something else is coming into season. It's just such a different way of doing things. I don't know if it'll ever totally catch (back?) on, but my god, she makes a persuasive case.

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide plenty of lists, but this explains in a way that makes you understand. Very well written, laugh aloud funny in parts, I just wish I'd bought the hardback because I know I will want to keep it to refer to again, or lend to friends, but also because I found the paperback needed constant pressure to keep it open, especially when reading the inside of the left- hand page. Annoying! For a few extra pounds get the handback - it's worth it.

Yes and No, 14 Feb 2008
There's little doubt that this book is soaked in fascinating information and powerful ideas, but I couldn't help thinking that Mrs Kingsolver et famille all sound a tad smug - I don't think I could bear to have them round to dinner at mine...

Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!

A great little guide, 22 Nov 2008
This is a great book to give more detail on this sort of wild food for anyone learning survival skills or bushcraft. I recently bought it to accompany the new Trueways Survival Skills with John 'Lofty' Wiseman [Interactive DVD] - together they make a superb way to quickly get up to speed with living off the land and especially survival skills or bushcraft.

To summarise, this is a great little book.

Interesting and Informative, 10 Aug 2007
All the Collins Gem books are great for keeping in your pocket if you are out on a field trip for the day and this one is no exception. The photographs are first class and the descriptions of the individual fungi clear and concise. The book describes almost 240 different species of mushroom and toadstool (when you've read the book you will know the difference). Their habitats, size, appearance and also whether they are poisonous or not.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and with fungi it could be fatal. The book goes out of its way to show which fungi are edible and which are poisonous. Personally I prefer to err on the side of caution and buy mine from the supermarket.

A very compact source of good information, 09 Aug 2007
I went on a fungas foray with the author of this book last year and it was extremely interesting and great fun. This book, although small, is packed full of the stuff I learned and much more information that gives me the confidence to go hunting on my own. It's the perfect size to pop in your pocket or basket while out walking.

One of the great things about it is that it identifies other species that can be confused with what you might have found. This allows you to double check and should make any mushroom hunting a lot safer.

a good pocket-sized guide, well illustrated, 28 Nov 2002
This little guide identifies a wide selection of funghi by reference to excellent photographs - much better than many of the artists' representations in some of the larger, dearer and more scholarly books.
There are short,sharp details about habitat, season and something of each specimen's histology. The book errs on the side of caution when dealing with edibility - so this is a book which could be given to a keen young explorer without too much risk of poisoning!
We keep a copy in the foraging basket, and refer to the more heavyweight volumes when we get home. It has much to recommend it.

How come I didn't notice all the smugness? , 10 Sep 2008
A few other reviews have drawn attention to Barbara Kingsolver's "smugness", including one person who liked the book but doesn't want her round for dinner.

I'm usually really sensitive to people being a bit too pleased with themselves, but I didn't think this book was like that at all. I thought it was touchingly hilarious about the weeks that they ended up just bottling tomatoes for days on end. And I loved all the information about intensive farming, agribusiness seed companies, and terminator genes - like a good article in the Sunday paper.

Most of all I found the book really inspiring. It made me pay attention to where my food came from, much more than I already did. I have always tried to eat seasonally and avoided food imports, but I found myself really being intrigued by her model, where you stuff your face with a couple of foodstuffs until you are heartily sick of them, by which time something else is coming into season. It's just such a different way of doing things. I don't know if it'll ever totally catch (back?) on, but my god, she makes a persuasive case.

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide plenty of lists, but this explains in a way that makes you understand. Very well written, laugh aloud funny in parts, I just wish I'd bought the hardback because I know I will want to keep it to refer to again, or lend to friends, but also because I found the paperback needed constant pressure to keep it open, especially when reading the inside of the left- hand page. Annoying! For a few extra pounds get the handback - it's worth it.

Yes and No, 14 Feb 2008
There's little doubt that this book is soaked in fascinating information and powerful ideas, but I couldn't help thinking that Mrs Kingsolver et famille all sound a tad smug - I don't think I could bear to have them round to dinner at mine...

Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!


Amazing book, 18 Jul 2008
I am still amazed with how well written and pleasurable to read this book is. Botany can be quite complicated at times, and I will not say that this book hasn't had at least one or two topics that didn't interest me at first (such as genetics), but once you start reading it you really feel hungry to read more.

It is written in a way that almost feels like reading a novel. I am going to read it again as I found that writing notes were distracting me away from the pleasure of reading the book itself. It also makes me wonder why when I was at schoool they didn't teach us all those interesting things the book so easily and magnificently tours us about. Wow, I have learnt so much!

In a nutshell, it feels like you are a reading a BBC cum National Geographic documentary book. Nevertheless the only downside of the book is the diagramation and the coordination of space between pictures and text, not the content's fault and should definitely not decrease even a 0,0001 star from its stellar 5 star rating.

Very well written descriptions of how plants work, 03 Oct 2007
Reading about botany bores me (which is strange for someone who loves growing plants for a living), but I LOVE this book. When I was studying for the RHS Advanced Certificate in Horticulture (a Level 3 qualification) it provided just the right level of detail, well explained. Some great, simple diagrams clarify heavy subjects and the few pictures taken through microscopes are fascinating. There's no waffle, just facts.

If, like me when I started, you have very little knowledge of botany, you may find that 'Principles of Horticulture' by Adams, Bamford & Early is a better starting point. I used to read a chapter in PoH for the basics and then turn to Capon for a more satifactory level of detail.
Capon became the "Bible" of our botany class and we referred to it constantly as we struggled to understand and retain the botanical knowledge we needed.

A great little guide, 22 Nov 2008
This is a great book to give more detail on this sort of wild food for anyone learning survival skills or bushcraft. I recently bought it to accompany the new Trueways Survival Skills with John 'Lofty' Wiseman [Interactive DVD] - together they make a superb way to quickly get up to speed with living off the land and especially survival skills or bushcraft.

To summarise, this is a great little book.

Interesting and Informative, 10 Aug 2007
All the Collins Gem books are great for keeping in your pocket if you are out on a field trip for the day and this one is no exception. The photographs are first class and the descriptions of the individual fungi clear and concise. The book describes almost 240 different species of mushroom and toadstool (when you've read the book you will know the difference). Their habitats, size, appearance and also whether they are poisonous or not.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and with fungi it could be fatal. The book goes out of its way to show which fungi are edible and which are poisonous. Personally I prefer to err on the side of caution and buy mine from the supermarket.

A very compact source of good information, 09 Aug 2007
I went on a fungas foray with the author of this book last year and it was extremely interesting and great fun. This book, although small, is packed full of the stuff I learned and much more information that gives me the confidence to go hunting on my own. It's the perfect size to pop in your pocket or basket while out walking.

One of the great things about it is that it identifies other species that can be confused with what you might have found. This allows you to double check and should make any mushroom hunting a lot safer.

a good pocket-sized guide, well illustrated, 28 Nov 2002
This little guide identifies a wide selection of funghi by reference to excellent photographs - much better than many of the artists' representations in some of the larger, dearer and more scholarly books.
There are short,sharp details about habitat, season and something of each specimen's histology. The book errs on the side of caution when dealing with edibility - so this is a book which could be given to a keen young explorer without too much risk of poisoning!
We keep a copy in the foraging basket, and refer to the more heavyweight volumes when we get home. It has much to recommend it.

How come I didn't notice all the smugness? , 10 Sep 2008
A few other reviews have drawn attention to Barbara Kingsolver's "smugness", including one person who liked the book but doesn't want her round for dinner.

I'm usually really sensitive to people being a bit too pleased with themselves, but I didn't think this book was like that at all. I thought it was touchingly hilarious about the weeks that they ended up just bottling tomatoes for days on end. And I loved all the information about intensive farming, agribusiness seed companies, and terminator genes - like a good article in the Sunday paper.

Most of all I found the book really inspiring. It made me pay attention to where my food came from, much more than I already did. I have always tried to eat seasonally and avoided food imports, but I found myself really being intrigued by her model, where you stuff your face with a couple of foodstuffs until you are heartily sick of them, by which time something else is coming into season. It's just such a different way of doing things. I don't know if it'll ever totally catch (back?) on, but my god, she makes a persuasive case.

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide plenty of lists, but this explains in a way that makes you understand. Very well written, laugh aloud funny in parts, I just wish I'd bought the hardback because I know I will want to keep it to refer to again, or lend to friends, but also because I found the paperback needed constant pressure to keep it open, especially when reading the inside of the left- hand page. Annoying! For a few extra pounds get the handback - it's worth it.

Yes and No, 14 Feb 2008
There's little doubt that this book is soaked in fascinating information and powerful ideas, but I couldn't help thinking that Mrs Kingsolver et famille all sound a tad smug - I don't think I could bear to have them round to dinner at mine...

Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!


Amazing book, 18 Jul 2008
I am still amazed with how well written and pleasurable to read this book is. Botany can be quite complicated at times, and I will not say that this book hasn't had at least one or two topics that didn't interest me at first (such as genetics), but once you start reading it you really feel hungry to read more.

It is written in a way that almost feels like reading a novel. I am going to read it again as I found that writing notes were distracting me away from the pleasure of reading the book itself. It also makes me wonder why when I was at schoool they didn't teach us all those interesting things the book so easily and magnificently tours us about. Wow, I have learnt so much!

In a nutshell, it feels like you are a reading a BBC cum National Geographic documentary book. Nevertheless the only downside of the book is the diagramation and the coordination of space between pictures and text, not the content's fault and should definitely not decrease even a 0,0001 star from its stellar 5 star rating.

Very well written descriptions of how plants work, 03 Oct 2007
Reading about botany bores me (which is strange for someone who loves growing plants for a living), but I LOVE this book. When I was studying for the RHS Advanced Certificate in Horticulture (a Level 3 qualification) it provided just the right level of detail, well explained. Some great, simple diagrams clarify heavy subjects and the few pictures taken through microscopes are fascinating. There's no waffle, just facts.

If, like me when I started, you have very little knowledge of botany, you may find that 'Principles of Horticulture' by Adams, Bamford & Early is a better starting point. I used to read a chapter in PoH for the basics and then turn to Capon for a more satifactory level of detail.
Capon became the "Bible" of our botany class and we referred to it constantly as we struggled to understand and retain the botanical knowledge we needed.

Arranging carts and horses, 30 Jul 2007
For many years, as fossil plants emerged from the rocks, it was believed that these records reflected changes in climate. Plants, it was assumed, had to adapt to variations in weather and other conditions. According to Beerling, plant life was instead the major prompter of climate change. The balance of atmospheric gases was determined by the micro-organisms floating in the seas. The ability to absorb carbon dioxide, coupled with the use of sunlight to convert that into nutrients gives plants the power to shift gas quantities. During the early days, plants exhaled oxygen. It was poison to most organisms, but those capable of using it began the drive leading to today's life. In this useful survey of all the forces forming today's world, Beerling traces how plants "changed Earth's history". Following his thesis requires the reader's close attention, since the organisation of the material is necessarily loose - not fixed chronology nor subject. The many topics to cover cannot be neatly niched.

To the author, the biggest mystery lies in the long delay between plants colonising the land and the formation of the first leaves. Leaf structure reflects how the plant is using energy. That, in turn, becomes a signal of how the atmosphere is composed at any given time. This knowledge was assembled over many years through the work of many researchers. Beerling traces the building of data resources and how the information was interpreted. Images of leaves and stems, analysis of the rock chemistry, field observations and laboratory experiments all contributed to the picture of plant evolution. Numerous surprises emerged, sometimes leading scholars to doubt the data and even their methodology. Looking at the life of plants down the ages is, as he puts it, looking "Through a glass darkly". Pervading his presentation is what the implications are for what is occurring in today's atmosphere - on which our life and those of our children, depends.

Beerling deems investigations into ancient atmospheres a form of "breathalyser", such as the police apply to suspected impaired drivers. In this case, however, it's not alcohol fumes that are measured, but carbon dioxide. Other gases are also sought, but they don't often leave sufficient clues. The information must be derived indirectly. Again, it's the plant's leaves that are used as the pointers to how ancient atmospheres fluctuated. Underlying the variations is the mighty force of plate tectonics. The shifting of land masses and changes in surface configuration leads plants to shift their survival strategies. Acting far more rapidly than creeping continents, the ability of plants to accelerate or impair rock weathering shifts the presence of gas quantities. Carbon dioxide quantities have varied markedly, leading to most of the world's history being warm times. Only recently - in geologic terms - has the planet experienced a cool era, which led to the "ice age" that scoured the Northern Hemisphere with massive glaciers.

As with so much in science, the revelation that plants drive climate instead of passively responding to it has produced at least as many questions as answers. There are anomalous circumstances that must be unravelled. The knowledge gained has led to the formation of "Earth system analysis" techniques using various forms of computer modelling. Many details, however, remain to be worked out. Atmostpheric studies are particularly impaired by lack of knowledge of cloud formation and distribution. Carbon itself, both as a greenhouse gas and as a component of plant growth, remains enigmatic. Beerling traces the selectivity of plants in choosing which carbon isotope will be utilised. That choice has impact on which plants will become dominant in a given area, which also has implications for the animal life living from them. There are no simple nor ready answers to what plants have meant in tracing life's development. Yet, as he emphasises frequently, these are questions that must be addressed further, and that, soon. Understanding our atmosphere is essential to our future. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A really exciting read, 28 May 2007
There are not many science books that can be described as exciting, but this one certainly is. With a superbly clean writing style, Beerling reveals the extraordinary story of plant evolution and plants' subsequent enormous impact on life on our planet.

It's something I had never given much thought to; most of my books about the ancient earth focus on dinosaurs. But my entire perception of the Earth and its history has been changed, along with my understanding of plants.

Beerling combines botany, geo-chemistry and a host of other potentially daunting subjects in easily-digested prose. The book is made even better thanks to the equally extraordinary stories of the discoveries behind the science. We are introduced to a pantheon of remarkable people (though they were not always appreciated as such at the time) through neat little insights and unexpected anecdotes.

You will never see plants in the same light again and you don't need to be a scientist to grasp the vast majority of the concepts. It's thoroughly engrossing and if you want to know more, the book is superbly referenced, too. Very highly recommended.

fascinating science, 05 Mar 2007
Very enjoyable read. Fascinating science intertwined with a writing style that is easy to understand. Beerling does not overwhelm the reader with scientific jargon. Each chapter tells a little story about how plants have been involved in the role of the evolving planet over the last 400 million years.
The stories are fascinating. For example I had no idea that Marie Stopes the women's rights campaigner was a keen Paleobotanist and that Scott of the Antartic was involved in the collection of fossil plants. I particularly enjoyed the story of the giant insects. Could we be heading for some sort of variation on this theme in this day and age of global warming?

Also book seems rather good value for money for a hardback.
Definately recommended.

A great little guide, 22 Nov 2008
This is a great book to give more detail on this sort of wild food for anyone learning survival skills or bushcraft. I recently bought it to accompany the new Trueways Survival Skills with John 'Lofty' Wiseman [Interactive DVD] - together they make a superb way to quickly get up to speed with living off the land and especially survival skills or bushcraft.

To summarise, this is a great little book.

Interesting and Informative, 10 Aug 2007
All the Collins Gem books are great for keeping in your pocket if you are out on a field trip for the day and this one is no exception. The photographs are first class and the descriptions of the individual fungi clear and concise. The book describes almost 240 different species of mushroom and toadstool (when you've read the book you will know the difference). Their habitats, size, appearance and also whether they are poisonous or not.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and with fungi it could be fatal. The book goes out of its way to show which fungi are edible and which are poisonous. Personally I prefer to err on the side of caution and buy mine from the supermarket.

A very compact source of good information, 09 Aug 2007
I went on a fungas foray with the author of this book last year and it was extremely interesting and great fun. This book, although small, is packed full of the stuff I learned and much more information that gives me the confidence to go hunting on my own. It's the perfect size to pop in your pocket or basket while out walking.

One of the great things about it is that it identifies other species that can be confused with what you might have found. This allows you to double check and should make any mushroom hunting a lot safer.

a good pocket-sized guide, well illustrated, 28 Nov 2002
This little guide identifies a wide selection of funghi by reference to excellent photographs - much better than many of the artists' representations in some of the larger, dearer and more scholarly books.
There are short,sharp details about habitat, season and something of each specimen's histology. The book errs on the side of caution when dealing with edibility - so this is a book which could be given to a keen young explorer without too much risk of poisoning!
We keep a copy in the foraging basket, and refer to the more heavyweight volumes when we get home. It has much to recommend it.

How come I didn't notice all the smugness? , 10 Sep 2008
A few other reviews have drawn attention to Barbara Kingsolver's "smugness", including one person who liked the book but doesn't want her round for dinner.

I'm usually really sensitive to people being a bit too pleased with themselves, but I didn't think this book was like that at all. I thought it was touchingly hilarious about the weeks that they ended up just bottling tomatoes for days on end. And I loved all the information about intensive farming, agribusiness seed companies, and terminator genes - like a good article in the Sunday paper.

Most of all I found the book really inspiring. It made me pay attention to where my food came from, much more than I already did. I have always tried to eat seasonally and avoided food imports, but I found myself really being intrigued by her model, where you stuff your face with a couple of foodstuffs until you are heartily sick of them, by which time something else is coming into season. It's just such a different way of doing things. I don't know if it'll ever totally catch (back?) on, but my god, she makes a persuasive case.

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide plenty of lists, but this explains in a way that makes you understand. Very well written, laugh aloud funny in parts, I just wish I'd bought the hardback because I know I will want to keep it to refer to again, or lend to friends, but also because I found the paperback needed constant pressure to keep it open, especially when reading the inside of the left- hand page. Annoying! For a few extra pounds get the handback - it's worth it.

Yes and No, 14 Feb 2008
There's little doubt that this book is soaked in fascinating information and powerful ideas, but I couldn't help thinking that Mrs Kingsolver et famille all sound a tad smug - I don't think I could bear to have them round to dinner at mine...

Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!


Amazing book, 18 Jul 2008
I am still amazed with how well written and pleasurable to read this book is. Botany can be quite complicated at times, and I will not say that this book hasn't had at least one or two topics that didn't interest me at first (such as genetics), but once you start reading it you really feel hungry to read more.

It is written in a way that almost feels like reading a novel. I am going to read it again as I found that writing notes were distracting me away from the pleasure of reading the book itself. It also makes me wonder why when I was at schoool they didn't teach us all those interesting things the book so easily and magnificently tours us about. Wow, I have learnt so much!

In a nutshell, it feels like you are a reading a BBC cum National Geographic documentary book. Nevertheless the only downside of the book is the diagramation and the coordination of space between pictures and text, not the content's fault and should definitely not decrease even a 0,0001 star from its stellar 5 star rating.

Very well written descriptions of how plants work, 03 Oct 2007
Reading about botany bores me (which is strange for someone who loves growing plants for a living), but I LOVE this book. When I was studying for the RHS Advanced Certificate in Horticulture (a Level 3 qualification) it provided just the right level of detail, well explained. Some great, simple diagrams clarify heavy subjects and the few pictures taken through microscopes are fascinating. There's no waffle, just facts.

If, like me when I started, you have very little knowledge of botany, you may find that 'Principles of Horticulture' by Adams, Bamford & Early is a better starting point. I used to read a chapter in PoH for the basics and then turn to Capon for a more satifactory level of detail.
Capon became the "Bible" of our botany class and we referred to it constantly as we struggled to understand and retain the botanical knowledge we needed.

Arranging carts and horses, 30 Jul 2007
For many years, as fossil plants emerged from the rocks, it was believed that these records reflected changes in climate. Plants, it was assumed, had to adapt to variations in weather and other conditions. According to Beerling, plant life was instead the major prompter of climate change. The balance of atmospheric gases was determined by the micro-organisms floating in the seas. The ability to absorb carbon dioxide, coupled with the use of sunlight to convert that into nutrients gives plants the power to shift gas quantities. During the early days, plants exhaled oxygen. It was poison to most organisms, but those capable of using it began the drive leading to today's life. In this useful survey of all the forces forming today's world, Beerling traces how plants "changed Earth's history". Following his thesis requires the reader's close attention, since the organisation of the material is necessarily loose - not fixed chronology nor subject. The many topics to cover cannot be neatly niched.

To the author, the biggest mystery lies in the long delay between plants colonising the land and the formation of the first leaves. Leaf structure reflects how the plant is using energy. That, in turn, becomes a signal of how the atmosphere is composed at any given time. This knowledge was assembled over many years through the work of many researchers. Beerling traces the building of data resources and how the information was interpreted. Images of leaves and stems, analysis of the rock chemistry, field observations and laboratory experiments all contributed to the picture of plant evolution. Numerous surprises emerged, sometimes leading scholars to doubt the data and even their methodology. Looking at the life of plants down the ages is, as he puts it, looking "Through a glass darkly". Pervading his presentation is what the implications are for what is occurring in today's atmosphere - on which our life and those of our children, depends.

Beerling deems investigations into ancient atmospheres a form of "breathalyser", such as the police apply to suspected impaired drivers. In this case, however, it's not alcohol fumes that are measured, but carbon dioxide. Other gases are also sought, but they don't often leave sufficient clues. The information must be derived indirectly. Again, it's the plant's leaves that are used as the pointers to how ancient atmospheres fluctuated. Underlying the variations is the mighty force of plate tectonics. The shifting of land masses and changes in surface configuration leads plants to shift their survival strategies. Acting far more rapidly than creeping continents, the ability of plants to accelerate or impair rock weathering shifts the presence of gas quantities. Carbon dioxide quantities have varied markedly, leading to most of the world's history being warm times. Only recently - in geologic terms - has the planet experienced a cool era, which led to the "ice age" that scoured the Northern Hemisphere with massive glaciers.

As with so much in science, the revelation that plants drive climate instead of passively responding to it has produced at least as many questions as answers. There are anomalous circumstances that must be unravelled. The knowledge gained has led to the formation of "Earth system analysis" techniques using various forms of computer modelling. Many details, however, remain to be worked out. Atmostpheric studies are particularly impaired by lack of knowledge of cloud formation and distribution. Carbon itself, both as a greenhouse gas and as a component of plant growth, remains enigmatic. Beerling traces the selectivity of plants in choosing which carbon isotope will be utilised. That choice has impact on which plants will become dominant in a given area, which also has implications for the animal life living from them. There are no simple nor ready answers to what plants have meant in tracing life's development. Yet, as he emphasises frequently, these are questions that must be addressed further, and that, soon. Understanding our atmosphere is essential to our future. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A really exciting read, 28 May 2007
There are not many science books that can be described as exciting, but this one certainly is. With a superbly clean writing style, Beerling reveals the extraordinary story of plant evolution and plants' subsequent enormous impact on life on our planet.

It's something I had never given much thought to; most of my books about the ancient earth focus on dinosaurs. But my entire perception of the Earth and its history has been changed, along with my understanding of plants.

Beerling combines botany, geo-chemistry and a host of other potentially daunting subjects in easily-digested prose. The book is made even better thanks to the equally extraordinary stories of the discoveries behind the science. We are introduced to a pantheon of remarkable people (though they were not always appreciated as such at the time) through neat little insights and unexpected anecdotes.

You will never see plants in the same light again and you don't need to be a scientist to grasp the vast majority of the concepts. It's thoroughly engrossing and if you want to know more, the book is superbly referenced, too. Very highly recommended.

fascinating science, 05 Mar 2007
Very enjoyable read. Fascinating science intertwined with a writing style that is easy to understand. Beerling does not overwhelm the reader with scientific jargon. Each chapter tells a little story about how plants have been involved in the role of the evolving planet over the last 400 million years.
The stories are fascinating. For example I had no idea that Marie Stopes the women's rights campaigner was a keen Paleobotanist and that Scott of the Antartic was involved in the collection of fossil plants. I particularly enjoyed the story of the giant insects. Could we be heading for some sort of variation on this theme in this day and age of global warming?

Also book seems rather good value for money for a hardback.
Definately recommended.



Wonderfully written, beautifully illustrated., 20 Nov 2006
A wonderfully written exploration of the story of the apple. The author traces the tale through the botany, history, geology, art, literature, zoology that influenced this important fruit. Extremely readable, and beautifully illustrated with original artwork and photos, the author guides us through thousands of years of history from Adam and Eve through to Johnny Appleseed. Loved the book. Highly recommend.

A great little guide, 22 Nov 2008
This is a great book to give more detail on this sort of wild food for anyone learning survival skills or bushcraft. I recently bought it to accompany the new Trueways Survival Skills with John 'Lofty' Wiseman [Interactive DVD] - together they make a superb way to quickly get up to speed with living off the land and especially survival skills or bushcraft.

To summarise, this is a great little book.

Interesting and Informative, 10 Aug 2007
All the Collins Gem books are great for keeping in your pocket if you are out on a field trip for the day and this one is no exception. The photographs are first class and the descriptions of the individual fungi clear and concise. The book describes almost 240 different species of mushroom and toadstool (when you've read the book you will know the difference). Their habitats, size, appearance and also whether they are poisonous or not.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and with fungi it could be fatal. The book goes out of its way to show which fungi are edible and which are poisonous. Personally I prefer to err on the side of caution and buy mine from the supermarket.

A very compact source of good information, 09 Aug 2007
I went on a fungas foray with the author of this book last year and it was extremely interesting and great fun. This book, although small, is packed full of the stuff I learned and much more information that gives me the confidence to go hunting on my own. It's the perfect size to pop in your pocket or basket while out walking.

One of the great things about it is that it identifies other species that can be confused with what you might have found. This allows you to double check and should make any mushroom hunting a lot safer.

a good pocket-sized guide, well illustrated, 28 Nov 2002
This little guide identifies a wide selection of funghi by reference to excellent photographs - much better than many of the artists' representations in some of the larger, dearer and more scholarly books.
There are short,sharp details about habitat, season and something of each specimen's histology. The book errs on the side of caution when dealing with edibility - so this is a book which could be given to a keen young explorer without too much risk of poisoning!
We keep a copy in the foraging basket, and refer to the more heavyweight volumes when we get home. It has much to recommend it.

How come I didn't notice all the smugness? , 10 Sep 2008
A few other reviews have drawn attention to Barbara Kingsolver's "smugness", including one person who liked the book but doesn't want her round for dinner.

I'm usually really sensitive to people being a bit too pleased with themselves, but I didn't think this book was like that at all. I thought it was touchingly hilarious about the weeks that they ended up just bottling tomatoes for days on end. And I loved all the information about intensive farming, agribusiness seed companies, and terminator genes - like a good article in the Sunday paper.

Most of all I found the book really inspiring. It made me pay attention to where my food came from, much more than I already did. I have always tried to eat seasonally and avoided food imports, but I found myself really being intrigued by her model, where you stuff your face with a couple of foodstuffs until you are heartily sick of them, by which time something else is coming into season. It's just such a different way of doing things. I don't know if it'll ever totally catch (back?) on, but my god, she makes a persuasive case.

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide plenty of lists, but this explains in a way that makes you understand. Very well written, laugh aloud funny in parts, I just wish I'd bought the hardback because I know I will want to keep it to refer to again, or lend to friends, but also because I found the paperback needed constant pressure to keep it open, especially when reading the inside of the left- hand page. Annoying! For a few extra pounds get the handback - it's worth it.

Yes and No, 14 Feb 2008
There's little doubt that this book is soaked in fascinating information and powerful ideas, but I couldn't help thinking that Mrs Kingsolver et famille all sound a tad smug - I don't think I could bear to have them round to dinner at mine...

Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!


Amazing book, 18 Jul 2008
I am still amazed with how well written and pleasurable to read this book is. Botany can be quite complicated at times, and I will not say that this book hasn't had at least one or two topics that didn't interest me at first (such as genetics), but once you start reading it you really feel hungry to read more.

It is written in a way that almost feels like reading a novel. I am going to read it again as I found that writing notes were distracting me away from the pleasure of reading the book itself. It also makes me wonder why when I was at schoool they didn't teach us all those interesting things the book so easily and magnificently tours us about. Wow, I have learnt so much!

In a nutshell, it feels like you are a reading a BBC cum National Geographic documentary book. Nevertheless the only downside of the book is the diagramation and the coordination of space between pictures and text, not the content's fault and should definitely not decrease even a 0,0001 star from its stellar 5 star rating.

Very well written descriptions of how plants work, 03 Oct 2007
Reading about botany bores me (which is strange for someone who loves growing plants for a living), but I LOVE this book. When I was studying for the RHS Advanced Certificate in Horticulture (a Level 3 qualification) it provided just the right level of detail, well explained. Some great, simple diagrams clarify heavy subjects and the few pictures taken through microscopes are fascinating. There's no waffle, just facts.

If, like me when I started, you have very little knowledge of botany, you may find that 'Principles of Horticulture' by Adams, Bamford & Early is a better starting point. I used to read a chapter in PoH for the basics and then turn to Capon for a more satifactory level of detail.
Capon became the "Bible" of our botany class and we referred to it constantly as we struggled to understand and retain the botanical knowledge we needed.

Arranging carts and horses, 30 Jul 2007
For many years, as fossil plants emerged from the rocks, it was believed that these records reflected changes in climate. Plants, it was assumed, had to adapt to variations in weather and other conditions. According to Beerling, plant life was instead the major prompter of climate change. The balance of atmospheric gases was determined by the micro-organisms floating in the seas. The ability to absorb carbon dioxide, coupled with the use of sunlight to convert that into nutrients gives plants the power to shift gas quantities. During the early days, plants exhaled oxygen. It was poison to most organisms, but those capable of using it began the drive leading to today's life. In this useful survey of all the forces forming today's world, Beerling traces how plants "changed Earth's history". Following his thesis requires the reader's close attention, since the organisation of the material is necessarily loose - not fixed chronology nor subject. The many topics to cover cannot be neatly niched.

To the author, the biggest mystery lies in the long delay between plants colonising the land and the formation of the first leaves. Leaf structure reflects how the plant is using energy. That, in turn, becomes a signal of how the atmosphere is composed at any given time. This knowledge was assembled over many years through the work of many researchers. Beerling traces the building of data resources and how the information was interpreted. Images of leaves and stems, analysis of the rock chemistry, field observations and laboratory experiments all contributed to the picture of plant evolution. Numerous surprises emerged, sometimes leading scholars to doubt the data and even their methodology. Looking at the life of plants down the ages is, as he puts it, looking "Through a glass darkly". Pervading his presentation is what the implications are for what is occurring in today's atmosphere - on which our life and those of our children, depends.

Beerling deems investigations into ancient atmospheres a form of "breathalyser", such as the police apply to suspected impaired drivers. In this case, however, it's not alcohol fumes that are measured, but carbon dioxide. Other gases are also sought, but they don't often leave sufficient clues. The information must be derived indirectly. Again, it's the plant's leaves that are used as the pointers to how ancient atmospheres fluctuated. Underlying the variations is the mighty force of plate tectonics. The shifting of land masses and changes in surface configuration leads plants to shift their survival strategies. Acting far more rapidly than creeping continents, the ability of plants to accelerate or impair rock weathering shifts the presence of gas quantities. Carbon dioxide quantities have varied markedly, leading to most of the world's history being warm times. Only recently - in geologic terms - has the planet experienced a cool era, which led to the "ice age" that scoured the Northern Hemisphere with massive glaciers.

As with so much in science, the revelation that plants drive climate instead of passively responding to it has produced at least as many questions as answers. There are anomalous circumstances that must be unravelled. The knowledge gained has led to the formation of "Earth system analysis" techniques using various forms of computer modelling. Many details, however, remain to be worked out. Atmostpheric studies are particularly impaired by lack of knowledge of cloud formation and distribution. Carbon itself, both as a greenhouse gas and as a component of plant growth, remains enigmatic. Beerling traces the selectivity of plants in choosing which carbon isotope will be utilised. That choice has impact on which plants will become dominant in a given area, which also has implications for the animal life living from them. There are no simple nor ready answers to what plants have meant in tracing life's development. Yet, as he emphasises frequently, these are questions that must be addressed further, and that, soon. Understanding our atmosphere is essential to our future. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A really exciting read, 28 May 2007
There are not many science books that can be described as exciting, but this one certainly is. With a superbly clean writing style, Beerling reveals the extraordinary story of plant evolution and plants' subsequent enormous impact on life on our planet.

It's something I had never given much thought to; most of my books about the ancient earth focus on dinosaurs. But my entire perception of the Earth and its history has been changed, along with my understanding of plants.

Beerling combines botany, geo-chemistry and a host of other potentially daunting subjects in easily-digested prose. The book is made even better thanks to the equally extraordinary stories of the discoveries behind the science. We are introduced to a pantheon of remarkable people (though they were not always appreciated as such at the time) through neat little insights and unexpected anecdotes.

You will never see plants in the same light again and you don't need to be a scientist to grasp the vast majority of the concepts. It's thoroughly engrossing and if you want to know more, the book is superbly referenced, too. Very highly recommended.

fascinating science, 05 Mar 2007
Very enjoyable read. Fascinating science intertwined with a writing style that is easy to understand. Beerling does not overwhelm the reader with scientific jargon. Each chapter tells a little story about how plants have been involved in the role of the evolving planet over the last 400 million years.
The stories are fascinating. For example I had no idea that Marie Stopes the women's rights campaigner was a keen Paleobotanist and that Scott of the Antartic was involved in the collection of fossil plants. I particularly enjoyed the story of the giant insects. Could we be heading for some sort of variation on this theme in this day and age of global warming?

Also book seems rather good value for money for a hardback.
Definately recommended.



Wonderfully written, beautifully illustrated., 20 Nov 2006
A wonderfully written exploration of the story of the apple. The author traces the tale through the botany, history, geology, art, literature, zoology that influenced this important fruit. Extremely readable, and beautifully illustrated with original artwork and photos, the author guides us through thousands of years of history from Adam and Eve through to Johnny Appleseed. Loved the book. Highly recommend.


History of early Botany - written in the traditional style., 28 Aug 2008
I had this bought for me last Christmas and I must admit feel a bit sheepish having only just read it. In short, it is the history of the early British botanists from the 1700s and the accompanying revolution in plant cultivation, horticulture and general botanical discovery. One of those subject areas that always fascinates but is hardly touched upon by history curricula in school or college. I particularly enjoyed the written style of Andrea Wulf's text. It was reminiscent of Arthur Bryant's 'Set in a Silver Sea'. That is to say, history written as an Arts subject rather than a political or social science, which it so often is these days. A lively, rich and entertaining narrative that produces a truly interesting book on our national craze.

An utterly charming and surprising birthday present from my daughter, 08 Apr 2008
Happy 63rd birthday to me! My daughter gave me this book on saturday knowing I am obsesed with gardening and spend all my time, according to her, up to me elbows in manure (manure is a polite version of the word she actually used!). I am not generally a great fan of history - probably becaue of school, ie give me a nursery plantlist every time - but I loved this book. Amazing to find out that so many of the plants I grow (and sweat so much blood over) aren't British. Full of great nuggets, so thank you Marianne.

A great little guide, 22 Nov 2008
This is a great book to give more detail on this sort of wild food for anyone learning survival skills or bushcraft. I recently bought it to accompany the new Trueways Survival Skills with John 'Lofty' Wiseman [Interactive DVD] - together they make a superb way to quickly get up to speed with living off the land and especially survival skills or bushcraft.

To summarise, this is a great little book.

Interesting and Informative, 10 Aug 2007
All the Collins Gem books are great for keeping in your pocket if you are out on a field trip for the day and this one is no exception. The photographs are first class and the descriptions of the individual fungi clear and concise. The book describes almost 240 different species of mushroom and toadstool (when you've read the book you will know the difference). Their habitats, size, appearance and also whether they are poisonous or not.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and with fungi it could be fatal. The book goes out of its way to show which fungi are edible and which are poisonous. Personally I prefer to err on the side of caution and buy mine from the supermarket.

A very compact source of good information, 09 Aug 2007
I went on a fungas foray with the author of this book last year and it was extremely interesting and great fun. This book, although small, is packed full of the stuff I learned and much more information that gives me the confidence to go hunting on my own. It's the perfect size to pop in your pocket or basket while out walking.

One of the great things about it is that it identifies other species that can be confused with what you might have found. This allows you to double check and should make any mushroom hunting a lot safer.

a good pocket-sized guide, well illustrated, 28 Nov 2002
This little guide identifies a wide selection of funghi by reference to excellent photographs - much better than many of the artists' representations in some of the larger, dearer and more scholarly books.
There are short,sharp details about habitat, season and something of each specimen's histology. The book errs on the side of caution when dealing with edibility - so this is a book which could be given to a keen young explorer without too much risk of poisoning!
We keep a copy in the foraging basket, and refer to the more heavyweight volumes when we get home. It has much to recommend it.

How come I didn't notice all the smugness? , 10 Sep 2008
A few other reviews have drawn attention to Barbara Kingsolver's "smugness", including one person who liked the book but doesn't want her round for dinner.

I'm usually really sensitive to people being a bit too pleased with themselves, but I didn't think this book was like that at all. I thought it was touchingly hilarious about the weeks that they ended up just bottling tomatoes for days on end. And I loved all the information about intensive farming, agribusiness seed companies, and terminator genes - like a good article in the Sunday paper.

Most of all I found the book really inspiring. It made me pay attention to where my food came from, much more than I already did. I have always tried to eat seasonally and avoided food imports, but I found myself really being intrigued by her model, where you stuff your face with a couple of foodstuffs until you are heartily sick of them, by which time something else is coming into season. It's just such a different way of doing things. I don't know if it'll ever totally catch (back?) on, but my god, she makes a persuasive case.

Mixed Feelings, 18 Jul 2008
There are many good things in this book, the author urging a more seasonal and local approach to food being the main theme. I can see how inspirational this book can be.

However the stumbling block for me was the superior approach the authors took to anyone who did not fit in with what they believed. For instance, the daughter wrote a piece about people who did not eat meat being unable to get proper and complete nutrients. This is nonsense, and what was written sounded like someone else speaking, some one else telling her that being an omnivore was the only right way. It felt almost religious in away - I am right and if you disagree you are wrong.

There were also instances in the book where the main author took snide little digs at anyone who was concerned with animal welfare, making quite clear her opinion that anyone who was thus concerned was over emotional and didn't "understand" the realities.

Ms Kingsolver's smug and superior attitude put me off a book that had been recommended to me by so many people and I was disappointed because I had a real desire to be inspired. A little respect on her part for those who choose a different way of reaching the same goal wouldn't have gone amiss.

FAB BUT BUY THE HARDBACK !, 15 Apr 2008
Excellent, informative book - very good at explaining scientific backgounds to issues. (Kingsolver and husband are both scientists.) Not what I was expecting. I probably expected jolly year-in-the-life-of, and that is there, but also so much more. As an example, regarding knowing what veg are in season & when - other books provide plenty of lists, but this explains in a way that makes you understand. Very well written, laugh aloud funny in parts, I just wish I'd bought the hardback because I know I will want to keep it to refer to again, or lend to friends, but also because I found the paperback needed constant pressure to keep it open, especially when reading the inside of the left- hand page. Annoying! For a few extra pounds get the handback - it's worth it.

Yes and No, 14 Feb 2008
There's little doubt that this book is soaked in fascinating information and powerful ideas, but I couldn't help thinking that Mrs Kingsolver et famille all sound a tad smug - I don't think I could bear to have them round to dinner at mine...

Choose Food to Enhance Life, 03 Jan 2008
If you read only one book about food in 2008, I suggest you make it this one.

Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven Hopp, and her daughter, Camille, present selecting, growing, producing, harvesting, storing, preparing, sharing, and eating food as a way to enhance their own lives and those of others. It's a life-affirming approach that I found quite intriguing.

Let me give you a few examples. Ms. Kingsolver decided it would be interesting to breed turkeys as well as raise them. Now, this isn't done very often. Turkeys don't have the necessary equipment and habits to be very good at mating and raising their young so most growers use artificial insemination and incubators. The result is a fascinating story of discovery about turkeys and herself.

Her family also decided to almost totally limit themselves to the food they could produce or purchase as locally grown (within about 250 miles) for a year. So you don't eat strawberries in January with that approach unless you freeze some from the summer, have a greenhouse, or live in southern California. This family lives in Virginia so the options are heavily constricted by the limited growing season. As a result, you'll find lots of recipes in the book to use the seasonal bounties of foods that are easy to grow in quantity like zucchini and tomatoes.

The book is also informative about food and how it is produced. I realized that I knew many of these things because my dad grew up on a farm and my mom on a ranch. They also grew a lot of our food when we were growing up. But I'm sure my children have no idea about these things. Ms. Kingsolver does a great service by transmitting this increasingly scarce and important information to another generation.

My own consciousness about food was raised when I realized that I've been ignoring many wonderful local food choices to supplement my tiny garden. Next spring, I plan to do things much differently.

More significantly, this book makes the challenges of the small organic farmer clearer to me. I see that I need to buy more local organic food to help make this offering available and to help those who want to do that kind of work.

For those who are concerned about food quality and environmental sustainability, this book contains much valuable information and advice.

The book's style is very accessible. There are sidebars written by Professor Hopp and Ms. Camille Kingsolver that give the book a nice change of pace. There are also lots of interesting recipes. Ms. Barbara Kingsolver also uses a narrative style that allows for lots of anecdotes and extended stories. Her pleasant novelist's touch gives the book a warmth and glow that you don't find in many books about food.

I was very sorry when the book ended. I could have kept on reading for another five years. Perhaps they will write an update at some point. I hope so!


Amazing book, 18 Jul 2008
I am still amazed with how well written and pleasurable to read this book is. Botany can be quite complicated at times, and I will not say that this book hasn't had at least one or two topics that didn't interest me at first (such as genetics), but once you start reading it you really feel hungry to read more.

It is written in a way that almost feels like reading a novel. I am going to read it again as I found that writing notes were distracting me away from the pleasure of reading the book itself. It also makes me wonder why when I was at schoool they didn't teach us all those interesting things the book so easily and magnificently tours us about. Wow, I have learnt so much!

In a nutshell, it feels like you are a reading a BBC cum National Geographic documentary book. Nevertheless the only downside of the book is the diagramation and the coordination of space between pictures and text, not the content's fault and should definitely not decrease even a 0,0001 star from its stellar 5 star rating.

Very well written descriptions of how plants work, 03 Oct 2007
Reading about botany bores me (which is strange for someone who loves growing plants for a living), but I LOVE this book. When I was studying for the RHS Advanced Certificate in Horticulture (a Level 3 qualification) it provided just the right level of detail, well explained. Some great, simple diagrams clarify heavy subjects and the few pictures taken through microscopes are fascinating. There's no waffle, just facts.

If, like me when I started, you have very little knowledge of botany, you may find that 'Principles of Horticulture' by Adams, Bamford & Early is a better starting point. I used to read a chapter in PoH for the basics and then turn to Capon for a more satifactory level of detail.
Capon became the "Bible" of our botany class and we referred to it constantly as we struggled to understand and retain the botanical knowledge we needed.

Arranging carts and horses, 30 Jul 2007
For many years, as fossil plants emerged from the rocks, it was believed that these records reflected changes in climate. Plants, it was assumed, had to adapt to variations in weather and other conditions. According to Beerling, plant life was instead the major prompter of climate change. The balance of atmospheric gases was determined by the micro-organisms floating in the seas. The ability to absorb carbon dioxide, coupled with the use of sunlight to convert that into nutrients gives plants the power to shift gas quantities. During the early days, plants exhaled oxygen. It was poison to most organisms, but those capable of using it began the drive leading to today's life. In this useful survey of all the forces forming today's world, Beerling traces how plants "changed Earth's history". Following his thesis requires the reader's close attention, since the organisation of the material is necessarily loose - not fixed chronology nor subject. The many topics to cover cannot be neatly niched.

To the author, the biggest mystery lies in the long delay between plants colonising the land and the formation of the first leaves. Leaf structure reflects how the plant is using energy. That, in turn, becomes a signal of how the atmosphere is composed at any given time. This knowledge was assembled over many years through the work of many researchers. Beerling traces the building of data resources and how the information was interpreted. Images of leaves and stems, analysis of the rock chemistry, field observations and laboratory experiments all contributed to the picture of plant evolution. Numerous surprises emerged, sometimes leading scholars to doubt the data and even their methodology. Looking at the life of plants down the ages is, as he puts it, looking "Through a glass darkly". Pervading his presentation is what the implications are for what is occurring in today's atmosphere - on which our life and those of our children, depends.

Beerling deems investigations into ancient atmospheres a form of "breathalyser", such as the police apply to suspected impaired drivers. In this case, however, it's not alcohol fumes that are measured, but carbon dioxide. Other gases are also sought, but they don't often leave sufficient clues. The information must be derived indirectly. Again, it's the plant's leaves that are used as the pointers to how ancient atmospheres fluctuated. Underlying the variations is the mighty force of plate tectonics. The shifting of land masses and changes in surface configuration leads plants to shift their survival strategies. Acting far more rapidly than creeping continents, the ability of plants to accelerate or impair rock weathering shifts the presence of gas quantities. Carbon dioxide quantities have varied markedly, leading to most of the world's history being warm times. Only recently - in geologic terms - has the planet experienced a cool era, which led to the "ice age" that scoured the Northern Hemisphere with massive glaciers.

As with so much in science, the revelation that plants drive climate instead of passively responding to it has produced at least as many questions as answers. There are anomalous circumstances that must be unravelled. The knowledge gained has led to the formation of "Earth system analysis" techniques using various forms of computer modelling. Many details, however, remain to be worked out. Atmostpheric studies are particularly impaired by lack of knowledge of cloud formation and distribution. Carbon itself, both as a greenhouse gas and as a component of plant growth, remains enigmatic. Beerling traces the selectivity of plants in choosing which carbon isotope will be utilised. That choice has impact on which plants will become dominant in a given area, which also has implications for the animal life living from them. There are no simple nor ready answers to what plants have meant in tracing life's development. Yet, as he emphasises frequently, these are questions that must be addressed further, and that, soon. Understanding our atmosphere is essential to our future. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A really exciting read, 28 May 2007
There are not many science books that can be described as exciting, but this one certainly is. With a superbly clean writing style, Beerling reveals the extraordinary story of plant evolution and plants' subsequent enormous impact on life on our planet.

It's something I had never given much thought to; most of my books about the ancient earth focus on dinosaurs. But my entire perception of the Earth and its history has been changed, along with my understanding of plants.

Beerling combines botany, geo-chemistry and a host of other potentially daunting subjects in easily-digested prose. The book is made even better thanks to the equally extraordinary stories of the discoveries behind the science. We are introduced to a pantheon of remarkable people (though they were not always appreciated as such at the time) through neat little insights and unexpected anecdotes.

You will never see plants in the same light again and you don't need to be a scientist to grasp the vast majority of the concepts. It's thoroughly engrossing and if you want to know more, the book is superbly referenced, too. Very highly recommended.

fascinating science, 05 Mar 2007
Very enjoyable read. Fascinating science intertwined with a writing style that is easy to understand. Beerling does not overwhelm the reader with scientific jargon. Each chapter tells a little story about how plants have been involved in the role of the evolving planet over the last 400 million years.
The stories are fascinating. For example I had no idea that Marie Stopes the women's rights campaigner was a keen Paleobotanist and that Scott of the Antartic was involved in the collection of fossil plants. I particularly enjoyed the story of the giant insects. Could we be heading for some sort of variation on this theme in this day and age of global warming?

Also book seems rather good value for money for a hardback.
Definately recommended.



Wonderfully written, beautifully illustrated., 20 Nov 2006
A wonderfully written exploration of the story of the apple. The author traces the tale through the botany, history, geology, art, literature, zoology that influenced this important fruit. Extremely readable, and beautifully illustrated with original artwork and photos, the author guides us through thousands of years of history from Adam and Eve through to Johnny Appleseed. Loved the book. Highly recommend.


History of early Botany - written in the traditional style., 28 Aug 2008
I had this bought for me last Christmas and I must admit feel a bit sheepish having only just read it. In short, it is the history of the early British botanists from the 1700s and the accompanying revolution in plant cultivation, horticulture and general botanical discovery. One of those subject areas that always fascinates but is hardly touched upon by history curricula in school o