"Humans have always had a special appreciation for fruit that grows on trees. Could it be because orchard fruits grow closer to heaven than other plant products do as some poets have suggested? Or could it be because the places where these fruits grow are alive with light and shadow and redolent of sweet scents, offering us sanctuaries where we can retreat from the cares of daily life? Where did the fruits we grow in orchards come from and how did they develop? Bernd Brunner set out to discover how the search for desirable fruit has shaped us, and how we have shaped fruit by selecting those that appeal most to our senses of taste and delight. The result is a readable, lavishly illustrated book about orchards as places that for millennia have stimulated human creativity and that have provided sustenance for both the body and the soul. It is the first book to explore the history of orchards in such depth."--