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Hawthorn: The Tree That Has Nourished, Healed, and Inspired Through the Ages
An engaging introduction to the ancient hawthorn tree and its varied roles in human history
One of humankind’s oldest companions, the hawthorn tree is bound up in the memories of every recorded age and the plot lines of cultures across the Northern Hemisphere. In Hawthorn, Bill Vaughn examines the little-recognized political, cultural, and natural history of this ancient spiky plant. Used for thousands of years in the impenetrable living fences that defined the landscapes of Europe, the hawthorn eventually helped feed the class antagonism that led to widespread social upheaval. In the American Midwest, hawthorn-inspired hedges on the prairies made nineteenth-century farming economically rewarding for the first time. Later, in Normandy, mazelike hedgerows bristling with these thorns nearly cost the Allies World War II. Vaughn shines light on the full scope of the tree’s influence over human events. He also explores medicinal value of the hawthorn, the use of its fruit in the world’s first wine, and the symbolic role its spikes and flowers played in pagan beliefs and Christian iconography. As entertaining as it is illuminating, this book is the first full appreciation of the hawthorn’s abundant connections with humanity.
One of humankind’s oldest companions, the hawthorn tree is bound up in the memories of every recorded age and the plot lines of cultures across the Northern Hemisphere. In Hawthorn, Bill Vaughn examines the little-recognized political, cultural, and natural history of this ancient spiky plant. Used for thousands of years in the impenetrable living fences that defined the landscapes of Europe, the hawthorn eventually helped feed the class antagonism that led to widespread social upheaval. In the American Midwest, hawthorn-inspired hedges on the prairies made nineteenth-century farming economically rewarding for the first time. Later, in Normandy, mazelike hedgerows bristling with these thorns nearly cost the Allies World War II. Vaughn shines light on the full scope of the tree’s influence over human events. He also explores medicinal value of the hawthorn, the use of its fruit in the world’s first wine, and the symbolic role its spikes and flowers played in pagan beliefs and Christian iconography. As entertaining as it is illuminating, this book is the first full appreciation of the hawthorn’s abundant connections with humanity.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2015
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About the author
Bill Vaughn
12 books8 followersBooks by Bill Vaughn
The Plot Against Native America
The Last Heir
Hawthorn
First, a Little Chee-Chee
Making Bones
Gift With Purchase
Set the Prairie on FIre
He publishes a newsletter, “Squalor Zone Reports,” every other week or so at substack.com.
The Plot Against Native America
The Last Heir
Hawthorn
First, a Little Chee-Chee
Making Bones
Gift With Purchase
Set the Prairie on FIre
He publishes a newsletter, “Squalor Zone Reports,” every other week or so at substack.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 3, 2019
An interesting read with some good botanical detail and engaging considerations of the links between plant and human life. Sometimes I felt it was moving a bit fast (claims about what 'archaeologists have found' without details and the citation not apparently to an archaeological source), while other sections seemed to collect information without analysis (medical trials described but their contradictory results only just synthesised into a suggestion, not a strong conclusion - perhaps because of the previous problem, speed). Overall, though, I enjoyed reading this and certainly know more about hawthorns now.
June 18, 2023
I enjoyed this book but so much of it isn't about hawthorns in any way whatsoever.
In the group I facilitate we have teaching days when I do something the group calls 'brambling'; making connections between seemingly disparate things. Bill Vaughn is a great brambler, and has an engaging writing style, but he follows a tangent a bit further than is good for anyone; sometimes to the point where I forgot what the book was about.
Also, I really did want to know about hawthorns, rather than about how a range of other shrubs can be made into hedges, the challenges of the WWII battles of Normandy, or how forensic scientists date the death of a body from the larvae of flies! Maybe I feel better for learning all these things but I feel a little bit as though I have been locked in a room and forcibly educated.
Amidst all of this I did though learn lots about hawthorns, so it was possibly worth it. I am off for a lie down somewhere dark.
In the group I facilitate we have teaching days when I do something the group calls 'brambling'; making connections between seemingly disparate things. Bill Vaughn is a great brambler, and has an engaging writing style, but he follows a tangent a bit further than is good for anyone; sometimes to the point where I forgot what the book was about.
Also, I really did want to know about hawthorns, rather than about how a range of other shrubs can be made into hedges, the challenges of the WWII battles of Normandy, or how forensic scientists date the death of a body from the larvae of flies! Maybe I feel better for learning all these things but I feel a little bit as though I have been locked in a room and forcibly educated.
Amidst all of this I did though learn lots about hawthorns, so it was possibly worth it. I am off for a lie down somewhere dark.
November 16, 2022
For a short book it spent a lot of pages on tangents.
January 14, 2017
69) C. Phaenopyrum
104) C. Pinnatifida (Chinese Hawthorn) - large tasty fruit
104) C. Pinnatifida (Chinese Hawthorn) - large tasty fruit
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews