Plants Human History

We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.

A revelatory dive into the overlooked history of grass and the astonishing ways it has shaped our world The story of grass is bigger than grass itself; it is the story of us and our place in the natural world. From creeping turf and towering bamboo, to rolling meadows, vast savannas and fields...