Scribner

9781668007662

STARRED REVIEW

The Forbidden Garden

The Forbidden Garden uncovers the tragic, inspiring story of Russian botanists who sacrificed everything to preserve a quarter million seeds during World War II.

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Review of ‘The Forbidden Garden’

In March 1921, the world-famous botanist and geneticist Nikolai Vavilov was named director of the Bureau of Applied Botany and Plant Breeding, which was located in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg, Russia) and devoted to the study of plant life. He initiated an ambitious plan to develop the world’s first seed bank, which he promised would…

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