The Tulip" is not a gardening book. It is the story of a flower that has made men mad. Greed desire anguish & devotion have all played their part in the development of the tulip into the world-wide phenomenon it is today. No other flower has ever carried so much cultural baggage; it charts political upheavals illuminates social behaviour mirrors economic booms & busts plots the ebb & flow of religious persecution. Pavord tells how the tulip arrived from Turkey & took the whole of Western Europe by storm. Sumptuously illustrated from a wide range of sources this beautifully produced & irresistible volume will become a bible a unique source book a universal gift book & a joy to all who possess it."