Search results for ""Author Bill Laws""

Of course, we are entirely dependent on plants for our food and the air we breathe, but did you know that 5,000 mature English oak trees were used in the construction of Admiral Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, or that sweet peas were involved in the birth of the science of genetics? King Cotton was the driver of the slave trade, which was the first domino to fall in the American Revolution, and cotton was also the catalyst for the Industrial Revolution. These, and many other extraordinary facts in Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History, highlight the dynamic ways in which plants have influenced human history. This beautifully designed and illustrated volume provides an engaging guide to the fifty key plants that have had the most impact on human history. Packed full of information, the book includes details about the habitat and characteristics of each plant, fact boxes, full colour photographs and lovely botanical illustrations. Weaving together strands of economic, political and agricultural history, each entry is a fascinating look at the most influential plants known to mankind.

Read more less

The ''couch potato'' is an idler, the ''cabbage-head'' a dunce, Swede-bashers are stupid and you may as well give up life if you become a vegetable. A vegetable existence may imply dull monotony, but the human vegetable has sparked protests, threatened to topple a British government and almost triggered a revolution. From the Scottish Presbyterian campaign against the ''sinful potato'' to the class act that turned the carrot into a propaganda tool, from garlic inscriptions on Egyptian pyramids to Neolithic broad beans and medieval cabbage, and from the Dig for Victory campaign to their use in perfumes, The Curious History of Vegetables shows vegetables in a fascinating new light.

Read more less

Fifty Railways that Changed the Course of History is a fascinating and beautifully presented guide to the train lines and rail companies that have had the greatest impact on modern civilization. Entries range from the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground, the world's first underground railway, to the Pacific Railroad, the first transcontinental railroad in North America. In order to justify the assertion that they literally 'changed the course of history,' each railway is judged by its influence in five categories: Engineering, Society, commerce, Politics, and Military.

Read more less

Home Truths uncovers the strange and often bizarre stories behind the inventions, and inventors, that have shaped our homes. From dado rails and stencilling – which date from Roman times – noggins and newel posts to power showers, lights and lightning rods, wallpapers and windows, floors and fitted kitchens, Bill Laws’s book takes us on a journey of discovery that exposes the true secrets behind our four walls. Included here are the incredible flying fitted kitchens, the true saga behind the Aga, Mr Chubb’s great lock scandal and how front doors were changed forever by the penny post, while the near-death experience of one British royal contributed to the contemporary bathroom. This book will ensure that you never look at your wallpaper and laminate flooring in the same way again!

Read more less