WIN $150 GIFT VOUCHERS: ALADDIN'S GOLD
Donal McCracken was born and educated in Ireland and is an emeritus professor of history at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. His books include Gardens of Empire (Leicester University Press, 1997), Natal the Garden Colony (Frandsen Publishers, 1991), The Way to Kirstenbosch (National Botanical Institute, 1998) and Saving the Zululand Wilderness (Jacana Media, 2008). He was the first chair of the Durban Botanic Gardens Trust.
St Helena is a tiny island in the middle of the wild South Atlantic Ocean, rich in garden heritage and exotic and endemic flora. The island was once the stopover for vast East India Company fleets, carrying cargos of spices and plants from China, Malaysia and India. In the age of sail, only a small number of plants survived such voyages, so they were placed to rest on the island, before their last voyage. Maintained by enslaved labour and Chinese gardeners, once such place is the Emperor Napoleon’s Garden at Plantation House. This amazing book is illustrated throughout, with stunning drawings, maps, and manuscripts and looks at St Helena’s future and its past, taking the reader on a botanical exploration of the island’s native and introduced flora and placing it in context today. Featuring 45 colour photographs and 30 b/w illustrations. -- Ship Management International
