Green Kingdom

What an awesome book. Illuminating, fascinating and superbly researched. Ben Dark is a master storyteller. I learned something on every page – NIGEL SLATER
Utterly fascinating. I don’t expect to read a better work of natural history this year – BILL BRYSON
Ben Dark is a fantastic writer: his ability to relate science through story is both brilliant and rare, and Green Kingdom – in its palatial scope, beautiful phrasing and companionable humanity – is an extraordinary example of his brimming talent and a hugely enjoyable read – MATT COLLINS, author of The Tree Atlas
With this new odyssey of plant evolution, Ben Dark emerges as a natural history writer of spectacular gifts. He tacks with enviable deftness between the microscopic and the cosmically immense, between the backward chasm of the past and the friendly minutiae of modern life, between hard science and the flowerings of human artistry. He can make a history of mosses into an adventure story full of luck and danger, monsters and meteorites. His prose is both lucid and beautiful, and often witty. A wonderful book – NICOLA SHULMAN, author of Graven with Diamonds
Magnificently researched, captivatingly written and philosophically meaty, Green Kingdom skilfully weaves together the wonder of botanical evolution with human history and folklore to create a profound yet joyfully entertaining read. Dammit, if I had written this, I would die happy – JONATHAN DRORI, author of Around the World in 80 Plants
A book that traverses deep time and takes the reader on a wondrous journey through the kingdom of plants. Ben Dark engaged me every step of the way with his elegant mix of storytelling and science – SUE STUART SMITH, author of The Well Gardened Mind
Ben Dark – a worldwide, time-travelling storyteller – introduces us to characters with astonishing tales to tell. In Green Kingdom, Dark wears his scholarship lightly and brilliantly, weaving an epic narrative with botanical research. His curiosity and enthusiasm make for an unputdownable read – MARY KEEN, author of Diary of a Keen Gardener
Green Kingdom reads like an adventure story, a love story, a history, a celebration and a revelation of the wonders of plant life. An emerald marvel as rich as the kingdom it describes – ROWAN HOOPER, author of Togetherness
In Green Kingdom, Ben Dark, gardener extraordinaire and plant historian, gives plants their due: an epic story of 500 million years of evolution and adaptation, from the simplest bog mosses to ferns and evergreens to grasses and flowers and towering jungle trees. Through Dark’s light and airy prose, horticulture, history, science, and culture intertwine to celebrate the diversity and resilience of plants – STEVE BRUSATTE, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
Ben Dark has the unusual ability to see both the forest and the trees. Green Kingdom is at once closely observed, wonderfully far-ranging, and sharply written. It is a fascinating account of man’s long and tangled association with plants – ELIZABETH KOLBERT, author of The Sixth Extinction
Elegant, erudite and entrancing. This is a book you’ll want to read once for its fascinating information and colourful stories, and again, just for the sheer pleasure of it – ROBERT MOOR, author of In Trees
There aren’t many better garden writers than Ben Dark: he has gift for writing enthrallingly and here, when sharing the family history of sixteen plants, he outdoes himself. Green Kingdom is a joy to read – MARK DIACONO, author of Abundance

Ben Dark is a historian, broadcaster, and former head gardener. He holds degrees in history and horticulture and is the author of The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 19 1⁄2 Front Gardens, chosen by the Sunday Times and Telegraph as a best book of the year. He is also the creator and host of the award-winning Garden Log and Dear Gardener podcasts and a winner of Journalist of the Year at the Garden Media Guild awards.

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