Fanatical gardeners, horticultural historians or fans of The Madness of King George will all find something to interest them in Ray Desmond’s Kew: The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens (Harvill, £25, ISBN 1 86046 076 3). Peopled with kings and queens, as well as plant collectors and great botanists, these meticulous gleanings from three centuries of archives document the development of Kew from a princess’s fancy to world famous research centre. This is a book to dip into after the garden’s gates have shut for the night.
More from ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ articles
1
The best new science-fiction books of June 2026
2
Does gravity create reality? A shocking path to a theory of everything
3
Glaciers in the 'roof of the world' have suddenly started melting
4
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
5
Where did the laws of physics come from? I think I've found the answer
6
Putting CO2 into rocks and getting hydrogen out is climate double win
7
How a radical new view of life could reveal its origin – and aliens
8
Unsettling dance piece explores how AI is warping human relationships
9
Rapid bursts of ageing are causing a total rethink of how we grow old
10
NASA plans a base on the moon spanning hundreds of square kilometres
