Dangerous Garden: The Quest for Plants to Change Our Lives
Evening primrose sounds so soothing, and belladonna could be an opera, but what, after all, is in a name? Stuart reveals how even the most benign-sounding plants can harbor a deadly underside. In the current age of homeopathy and aromatherapy, nutraceuticals and natural healing, knowing the effects certain plants can have on the body and mind can mean the difference between healing and harming the user. It was not always so. Ancient civilizations tried one concoction after another until the patient was either cured or dead. As he brilliantly guides the reader through the history of humanity's complex relationship with the plant kingdom, and our relentless pursuit of remedies, restoratives, or recreational panaceas, Stuart reminds us that as long as humans have walked the earth, their destinies have been intricately interwoven with those of the plants around them. Lavishly illustrated, exhaustively researched, Stuart's investigation of the plants that have changed civilizations is an opulent, intriguing account of both plants and the people who exploit them.Carol HaggasCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved