Harvest: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects

Edward Posnett has written an exceptional first book; Harvest is a subtle, fascinating braiding of travel, cultural and natural history, ethnography and economic analysis; a modern-day Wunderkammer with echoes of Pico Iyer as well as Sir Thomas Browne. Clear-eyed but never blithe, Posnett records the destructiveness of market rapacity as well as rare, hopeful examples of human and more-than-human harmony. It is a pleasure and an education to journey with him in these pages -- Robert Macfarlane A truly remarkable debut, weird, inquisitive and swarming with memorable characters -- John Carey * Sunday Times * A beautiful exploration of our fraught connections with other species. With seemingly boundless curiosity, Posnett invites us on journeys through the surprising webs created by international trade. Uniting these stories from around the world are essential questions for our time: Is a balance between humans and the rest of nature possible? Or do we inevitably destroy what we harvest and desire? Full of surprise, delight, and horror, these lively tales illuminate and captivate -- David George Haskell, author of The Songs of Trees and The Forest Unseen Harvest opens a wondrous cabinet of curiosities. Posnett engages the reader sensually, intellectually, and poetically. The great gift of this book is that it inspires us to look with new depth into the varied stuff of life, and with this widened perspective, attempt to act with care, grace, intelligence, and joy. An original and bracing read. -- Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of Mozart’s Starling Posnett moves from one example to another with moral precision, wryness and a refusal to be discouraged. Stories build subtly and sometimes with sudden drama; all are entangled in complex political, cultural and ecological circumstances -- Jake Kerridge * Guardian * Fascinating -- Liz Kalaugher * BBC Wildlife * Harvest is a rich and absorbing exploration of places where a singular culture meets global capitalism -- Michael Kerr * Daily Telegraph * Delightful -- Gaia Vince