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Title: Tulipomania : The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused by Mike Dash ISBN: 0-609-80765-X Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA) Pub. Date: 30 January, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.94 (32 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The history of the tulip is unquestionably fascinating
Comment: Whether you are a history or a plant buff, the history of the tulip is unquestionably a fascinating topic. If you are both a history and plant buff, like me, this topic is absolutely intoxicating. So deep and thought provoking are the moral and philosophical questions surrounding the tulip craze, it would seem nearly impossible to write a boring book on the subject. Nevertheless, I have read, or attempted to read, some books on this fascinating period of history that have nearly put me to sleep. Tulipomania by Mike Dash captures the essence of what makes the history of this plant so irresistible. Unlike a history book, he doesn't get overly bogged down with dates and names. Unlike a horticulture or botany book, he presents some of the technical details of the plant without using technical terms the average reader wouldn't appreciate. Rather, Mike Dash tells a story, which just happens to be about a plant, that spans over several hundred years. He paints a colorful picture of personalities, historical towns and, palaces that reads like a novel. However, unlike many novels, this book leaves the reader with many thought provoking questions. The reader is left pondering human social behavior, values, and the prostitution of nature. While enjoyable, this is anything but an empty, pass the time, light reading book. This book should be mandatory reading for all high school students. Mike Dash relays this fascinating saga so clearly; virtually everyone who reads this book will be forever touched. Our society could learn so much from the history of this plant, yet most American schools never even mention this fabulous saga. I know I will make sure my children read this book when they are older.
Rating: 5
Summary: I'll Take Mine Sauteed!
Comment: This book was a pleasure to read. It is beautifully written, well-researched and it grabs your attention right away and holds it until the very end. I think Mr. Dash realized that even though the book is relatively short, most people would have been bored if the book had only stayed with a narrow focus on tulip varieties and the economic dynamics of the brief period during which the mania flourished. The author made a wise choice by going off into little interesting peripheral areas, such as the origins of the tulip in central Asia, the cultivation of the flower by the Ottoman Turks, and some aspects of social life in 17th century Holland. Did you know that when the flower was popular in Turkey some of the Ottoman soldiers went around with tulips embroidered on their underwear? Due to the Islamic prohibition concerning the artistic depiction of people and real life objects the embroidery of the flower had to be kept "undercover", so they placed it on the underwear! I don't want to give the impression that the book is a bunch of fluff. Mr. Dash never veers too far from the tulip mania and some of the best chapters in the book concern the botanical, economic and social reasons for the stratospheric heights tulip prices reached. Due to the way tulips reproduce it took a long time for new varieties (which were the most coveted) to be produced in quantity. Trading methods that we use today, such as buying on margin and trading in futures, also helped to fuel the craze, as did the tendency of the people involved to do their trading in taverns while consuming vast quantities of beer! Oh, by the way, I do want to explain the title of this review: In 1562 a shipment of cloth which had been sent from Istanbul arrived in Antwerp. The Flemish merchant who had ordered the cloth also noticed that the shipment contained some type of bulbs. They were tulip bulbs, but the merchant didn't know that. He assumed they were some type of Turkish onion, so he had most of them roasted and he ate them for supper, seasoned with some oil and vinegar!
Rating: 3
Summary: Not terribly interesting.
Comment: A meticulously researched book, but not one I found terribly interesting. The most interesting material tended to be background or related bits of history, but this did not comprise enough of the book. I had a little trouble with the biology of new species development: the explanation was all there, but perhaps just a little more leisurely discussion would have been helpful.
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Title: Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny by Mike Dash ISBN: 0609807161 Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA) Pub. Date: 27 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Tulip Fever by DEBORAH MOGGACH ISBN: 0385334923 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 10 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Tulip by Anna Pavord ISBN: 1582340137 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Pub. Date: 01 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: Tulips by CHRIS MEAD ISBN: 0609601326 Publisher: Clarkson Potter Pub. Date: 27 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Nathaniel's Nutmeg by Giles Milton ISBN: 0140292608 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 03 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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