Harvest: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects

Harvest: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects

â€˜An exceptional first book; Harvest is a subtle, fascinating braiding of travel, cultural and natural history â€¦ It is a pleasure and an education to journey with him in these pagesâ€™ Robert Macfarlane

In a centuries-old tradition, farmers in northwestern Iceland scour remote coastal plains for the down of nesting eider ducks.

High inside a vast cave in Borneo, men perched atop rickety ladders collect swiftletsâ€™ nests, a delicacy believed to be a cure for almost anything.

Eiderdown and edible birdsâ€™ nests: both are luxury products, ultimately destined for the super-rich. To the rest of the world these materials are mere commodities but to the harvesters they are all imbued with myth, tradition, folklore and ritual, and form part of a shared identity and history.

These objects are two of the seven natural wonders whose stories Harvest tells: eiderdown, vicuÃ±a wool, sea silk, vegetable ivory, civet coffee, guano and edible birdsâ€™ nests. Harvest follows their journey from the wildest parts of the planet, traversing Iceland, Indonesia, and Peru, to its urban centres, drawing on the voices of the gatherers, shearers and entrepreneurs who harvest, process and trade them.

Blending interviews, history and travel writing, Harvest sets these human stories against our changing economic and ecological landscape. What do they tell us about capitalism, global market forces and overharvesting? How does a local micro-economy survive in a hyper-connected world?

Harvest makes us see the world with wonder, curiosity and new concern. It is an original and magical new map of our world and its riches.
Country USA
Manufacturer Bodley Head
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber Integrated photographs
ReleaseDate 2019-08-08
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781847923875

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Bodley Head
Binding	Hardcover
ItemPartNumber	Integrated photographs
ReleaseDate	2019-08-08
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781847923875