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Of course, we are entirely dependent on plants for our food and the air we breathe, but did you know that 5,000 mature English oak trees were used in the construction of Admiral Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, or that sweet peas were involved in the birth of the science of genetics? King Cotton was the driver of the slave trade, which was the first domino to fall in the American Revolution, and cotton was also the catalyst for the Industrial Revolution. These, and many other extraordinary facts in Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History, highlight the dynamic ways in which plants have influenced human history. This beautifully designed and illustrated volume provides an engaging guide to the fifty key plants that have had the most impact on human history. Packed full of information, the book includes details about the habitat and characteristics of each plant, fact boxes, full colour photographs and lovely botanical illustrations. Weaving together strands of economic, political and agricultural history, each entry is a fascinating look at the most influential plants known to mankind.
* Fifty Railways that Changed the Course of History is a fascinating and beautifully presented guide to the train lines and rail companies that have had the greatest impact on modern civilization. * Entries range from the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground, the world's first underground railway, to the Pacific Railroad, the first transcontinental railroad in North America. * In order to justify the assertion that they literally 'changed the course of history,' each railway is judged by its influence in five categories: Engineering, Society, commerce, Politics, and Military.
Re-thinking Careers Education and Guidance is the first book
published in the United Kingdom to cover theory, policy and
practice in all sectors of careers education and guidance
provision. The book features:
A green thumb is not the only tool one needs to garden well--at
least that's what the makers of gardening catalogs and the
designers of the dizzying aisle displays in lawn- and-garden stores
would have us believe. Need to plant a bulb, aerate some soil, or
keep out a hungry critter? Well, there's a specific tool for almost
everything. But this isn't just a product of today's consumer era,
since the very earliest gardens, people have been developing tools
to make planting and harvesting more efficient and to make flora
more beautiful and trees more fruitful. In "A History of the Garden
in Fifty Tools," Bill Laws offers entertaining and colorful
anecdotes of implements that have shaped our gardening experience
since the beginning.
Home Truths uncovers the strange and often bizarre stories behind the inventions, and inventors, that have shaped our homes. From dado rails and stencilling - which date from Roman times - noggins and newel posts to power showers, lights and lightning rods, wallpapers and windows, floors and fitted kitchens, Bill Laws's book takes us on a journey of discovery that exposes the true secrets behind our four walls. Included here are the incredible flying fitted kitchens, the true saga behind the Aga, Mr Chubb's great lock scandal and how front doors were changed forever by the penny post, while the near-death experience of one British royal contributed to the contemporary bathroom. This book will ensure that you never look at your wallpaper and laminate flooring in the same way again!
Vegetables may be associated with dull monotony, but, as Bill Laws reveals in this illustrated book, the humble vegetable has had a far from mundane history. There are garlic inscriptions on Egyptian pyramids; peas, leeks, lettuces and beans are among the oldest vegetables in the world; while maize, cultivated in Mexico 2,500 years ago, is a relative newcomer. Potatoes were venerated by the ancient Peruvians yet caused division between Catholics and Protestants in the mid-1700s. Suspicious of this 'devil vegetable', which had to be buried like a corpse before it would grow, the Protestants even brought the fight to politics - in 1765 their slogan was 'No potatoes. No Popery.' Victorian critic John Ruskin believed growing vegetables would better your position in society and improve your table manners. President Woodrow Wilson saw it as a cure for the 'extravagant and wasteful' ways of his people. From guinea gardens to genetic modification, from aphrodisiacs to allotments, from poets to pop stars, and from tales of the market trade to the wicked secrets of the vegetable show, Bill Laws here unearths the curious, intriguing and entertaining story of the vegetable. It will appeal to everyone with a taste for gardening or food history.
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