by Andrea Wulf
First published 2011
Andrea Wulf examines the Founding Fathers through their shared passion for plants, gardens, and farming. The author reveals how gardening and agriculture shaped the character of America's revolutionary leaders as much as their political ideals. Washington managed his Mount Vernon estate even during wartime crises. Jefferson and Adams found inspiration for their young republic while touring English gardens together. Madison developed early environmental thinking that influenced his political philosophy. Wulf shows how botanical interests connected these men to their land and informed their vision for the new nation. The book presents the revolutionary generation as hands-on farmers and plant enthusiasts whose agricultural obsessions ran parallel to their fight for independence and nation-building efforts.
Genres: biography, agriculture, gardening, american-history
Vibes: intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: hands-on, vision-for-new-nation
Setting: America, England, Mount Vernon
Period: Revolutionary Era
349 pages · Hardcover · Knopf