Taming Fruit

The first book about orchards that incorporates science, cultural anthropology, and history to make a case that understanding orchards is essential to understanding the evolution of humans’ relationship to nature.  A surprisingly easy read: Clear, accessible prose makes this book enjoyable to read. Beautiful illustrations: range from photographs, to line drawings, to paintings and more. Packaged for gift book appeal: the book is a beautifully made hardcover. Award-winning author: Bernd Brunner is an award-winning non-fiction essayist. His other books include Winterlust: Finding Beauty in the Fiercest Season and Birdmania: A Remarkable Passion for Birds, which was reviewed in The New York Times. Books about nature have grown in popularity with the COVID-19 pandemic, as people look for different ways to learn about and connect with the natural world. Acknowledgement of the role of Indigenous peoples: Orchards were not invented by Westerners; they were originally cultivated thousands of years ago by Indigenous peoples in North, Central, and South America.