Review of The gardener through history

[joshfee77]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The gardener through history" by Robin Johnson.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The Gardener Through History by Robin Johnson presents a fascinating exploration of gardening practices throughout human history, from the Neolithic Period to modern times. Including many photographs and diagrams, it also provides historical context through explanations of world events and climatic conditions during each period. Johnson explains advancements such as industrialisation, plus the work of prominent gardening writers from recent history. He closes the book with his thoughts on the future of gardening.

Johnson's passion for horticulture is clear as he details farming practices, fruits, and vegetables throughout history. Points of interest include the origins of delicious foods such as raspberries, blackberries, and hazelnuts. The author includes details of important times in horticultural history, with relevant world events provided for context, such as the "Victory Gardens" grown by British and American citizens to assist with fresh food production during World War II. The book presents many fascinating facts about horticulture, such as the wild mustard plant, from which descended broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and kohlrabi. Colour photographs and drawings show locations and items of interest from the text. Johnson also provides an index to help the reader refer back to relevant sections.

Unfortunately, The Gardener Through History is riddled with typographical and grammatical errors, such as unnecessary commas, apostrophes in plurals, and incorrect word choices such as "it is" instead of "they are". Some sentences border on the nonsensical: "Together great climatic change of the earth, and a period serious diseases." Similar sentences appear throughout the book, some almost impossible to understand.

The book is also not formatted consistently. For example, the heading "1. Spelt (Triticum Spelta)" is correctly placed above the paragraph about spelt, but the scientific name for "2. Wheat" is left outside of parentheses in the paragraph below, rather than in the heading. An extensive list of fruits, vegetables, and herbs is presented as one long paragraph when it would appear more professional as a numbered or bullet point list, one item to a line, possibly alphabetised. This list is also inconsistent in its alternation between regular names and scientific names.

Most photographs and diagrams are clumped together at the end of each chapter when they would work better illustrating the points of interest as they are discussed. Some pictures are excessive, such as three images of Stonehenge when most adult readers would already know what it looks like. Work is also needed to present this book in a logical flow and impart the information without any preamble. At the risk of sounding repetitive, Johnson often talks about what he's about to talk about instead of just talking about it. I feel the book would flow better if he simply used headings consistently and launched straight into the relevant explanation.

In conclusion, with professional editing, I believe The Gardener Through History could be worth 4 stars. The "Acknowledgements" section does cite the use of an editor, and Johnson asserts: "His professional editing and writing skills were second to none." I strongly disagree with this statement. This book needs a complete overhaul of its spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and formatting. The content is great. It just needs polish. Given the number of issues I found, I award it 2 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to anyone with a love of gardening, fruits, vegetables, or nature. It contains some amazing photographs and horticultural history.

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The gardener through history
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[Waliyat_24]

I’ll recommend this to people who love plants. It will be a great additional knowledge to them.

[WriteOn]

The book presents many fascinating facts about horticulture, such as the wild mustard plant, from which descended broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and kohlrabi.

I was impressed by all the interesting facts and the constructive criticism in your review. I'd like to read this book, it seems to give a fascinating perspective on gardening history. Thank you.

[EVERLASTING 22]

I really like the themes in the book. However, the grammar faults appear to invalidate it. Nonetheless, I'd give it a shot. Thank you for your feedback.

[Jatto Onimisi]

I would love to read this book. I have long been fascinated with botany and horticulture is a field I believe could help me enter into the world of understanding plants. This book sure appears to be capable of giving me a headstart. It's sad that there are so many errors but I believe it can be remedied. Thanks for the review.

[Paully_]

I would love to know more about Horticulture. I hope the author does the needful by editing book thoroughly. Nice review.

[joshfee77]

I’ll recommend this to people who love plants. It will be a great additional knowledge to them.

I'm not much of a gardener but I do love nature, and I found plenty to enjoy in this book.

[joshfee77]

The book presents many fascinating facts about horticulture, such as the wild mustard plant, from which descended broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and kohlrabi.

I was impressed by all the interesting facts and the constructive criticism in your review. I'd like to read this book, it seems to give a fascinating perspective on gardening history. Thank you.

Thanks! There were many interesting facts and much useful historical information in this book. I enjoyed all the information presented. It just needs a decent edit.

[joshfee77]

I really like the themes in the book. However, the grammar faults appear to invalidate it. Nonetheless, I'd give it a shot. Thank you for your feedback.

If you can see through the errors in the text, there is much to enjoy about this book. Thanks for your comments!

[joshfee77]

I would love to read this book. I have long been fascinated with botany and horticulture is a field I believe could help me enter into the world of understanding plants. This book sure appears to be capable of giving me a headstart. It's sad that there are so many errors but I believe it can be remedied. Thanks for the review.

Thanks! If you're interested in horticulture, there is plenty to like about this book. With the errors corrected, it will be a great reference.

[joshfee77]

I would love to know more about Horticulture. I hope the author does the needful by editing book thoroughly. Nice review.

Thanks! With a professional edit, this book will be an excellent guide to horticultural history.

[Sumto Nii]

As an agricultural enthusiast, this is a kind of book that would interest me. Thanks to the author for this book and thanks to the reviewer.

[joshfee77]

As an agricultural enthusiast, this is a kind of book that would interest me. Thanks to the author for this book and thanks to the reviewer.

Thanks! I think there is plenty in this book to fascinate anyone with an interest in agriculture and horticulture.