A vibrant natural history.
A tale of botany and greed.
Novelist and literary scholar Bilston investigates the complexities of the international orchid trade, which became so frenzied in the 19th century that it was known as orchidomania and even orchidelirium. Although many types of orchids were prized, Bilston focuses on one particular variety, brought from Brazil by a naturalist in 1818, later dubbed Cattleya labiata for its purple markings and “pronounced crimson lip.” Its appearance evoked “women, sexuality, desire”; its rarity made it especially coveted, central to a quest that involved explorers, naturalists, businessmen, speculators, reporters, and illustrators; ships and railways; laboratories, herbaria, and auction houses. The orchid business was not only about horticulture, although the desire for orchids spurred innovations in hybridization, “a controversial practice,” Bilston notes, “with grave implications. It seemed, to many, to lead humans dangerously into the realm of the divine.” Hybrids, although making orchids available to the masses, did not evoke the romance of C. labiata. Imported orchids, wrested from their native habitat by intrepid plant hunters, were better able “to satisfy human fancies, urges, and needs—to signal wealth and power, or connoisseurship, or modernity, or attachment to the past, or scientific acumen.” Bilston depicts the many obstacles facing these plant hunters, including treacherous terrain, devastating environmental damage, and political unrest. Wealthy Victorians were not the only ones coveting orchids: Darwin was fascinated by their structure, evolution, and especially their intricate process of fertilization. “I am convinced,” he remarked, “that orchids have a wicked power of witchcraft.” Besides Darwin, among the many naturalists who appear in Bilston’s well-populated history are Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker. Drawing on abundant archival sources in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Bilston conveys in colorful detail the “chaotic urgency” of the feverish pursuit of a remarkable epiphyte.
A vibrant natural history.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780674272606
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harvard Univ.
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.
An insider’s chronicle of a pivotal presidential campaign.
Several months into the mounting political upheaval of Donald Trump’s second term and following a wave of bestselling political exposés, most notably Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s Original Sin on Joe Biden’s health and late decision to step down, former Vice President Harris offers her own account of the consequential months surrounding Biden’s withdrawal and her swift campaign for the presidency. Structured as brief chapters with countdown headers from 107 days to Election Day, the book recounts the campaign’s daily rigors: vetting a running mate, navigating back-to-back rallies, preparing for the convention and the debate with Trump, and deflecting obstacles in the form of both Trump’s camp and Biden’s faltering team. Harris aims to set the record straight on issues that have remained hotly debated. While acknowledging Biden’s advancing decline, she also highlights his foreign-policy steadiness: “His years of experience in foreign policy clearly showed….He was always focused, always commander in chief in that room.” More blame is placed on his inner circle, especially Jill Biden, whom Harris faults for pushing him beyond his limits—“the people who knew him best, should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far.” Throughout, she highlights her own qualifications and dismisses suggestions that an open contest might have better served the party: “If they thought I was down with a mini primary or some other half-baked procedure, I was quick to disabuse them.” Facing Trump’s increasingly unhinged behavior, Harris never openly doubts her ability to confront him. Yet she doesn’t fully persuade the reader that she had the capacity to counter his dominance, suggesting instead that her defeat stemmed from a lack of time—a theme underscored by the urgency of the book’s title. If not entirely sanguine about the future, she maintains a clear-eyed view of the damage already done: “Perhaps so much damage that we will have to re-create our government…something leaner, swifter, and much more efficient.”
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781668211656
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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