A twentieth anniversary edition of the classic, featuring new material
by the author.
Anna Pavord's internationally bestselling sensation, The Tulip, is the
story of a flower that has driven men mad. Greed, desire, anguish, and
devotion have all played their part in the development of the tulip into
a worldwide phenomenon. Today, the United States alone imports three
thousand million tulip bulbs each year. No other flower has ever carried
so much consequence; it charts political upheavals, illuminates social
behavior, mirrors economic booms and busts, plots the ebb and flow of
religious persecution.
Why did the tulip dominate so many lives through so many centuries in so
many countries? Anna Pavord, a self-confessed tulipomaniac, spent six
years looking for answers, roaming through Asia, India, and the Ottoman
Empire to tell how a humble wildflower of the Asian steppes made its way
to Turkey and from there took the whole of Western Europe by storm.
Sumptuously illustrated from a wide range of sources, this irresistible
volume has become a bible, a unique source book, a universal gift book,
and a joy to all who possess it. This beautifully redesigned edition
features a new Preface by the author, a completely revised listing of
the best varieties of this incomparable flower to choose for your
garden, and a reorganized listing of tulip species, to reflect the
latest thinking by taxonomists.
