The Book of Pears: The Definitive History and Guide to Over 500 Varieties

The book is absolutely amazing! I wanted to buy a book about pears but knowing about glorious history of the pear hybrids and whole magic around them I envisioned book with ton of historical data, ton of great sourced information and ton of old wood cut pictures and color photographs.Lo and behold! I search amazon and I see this book! I compared it to other books on pears and NOTHING comes even close absolutely nothing!I am super pleased with it as this book reads like a fairytale. Not only it tells you in great details about endless amount of pear varieties (400 to be exact) but it tells you a story of each and every one and it reads like a novel, like a detective story ..like great history book.. like a bestseller that it is.I keep it in my bedroom on my night stand and this is absolutely perfect book to help you to drift into the land of Dreams.. It helps to unwind, to relax, it moves you through time and into magical places and incredible stories and adventures..I guarantee you will NEVER look at ABATE FETEL pears the same ever again learning how one hard working abbot managed to raise to fame one of the best tasting pears in history that became Italy's favorite.If you ever wondered what happened to the Bosc Pear.. why is it rusty brown and why is it called Bosk..do read it! Dive into the story of the Bosc guy who almost perished in the pot of some tribe while the ship of the geography society expedition crashed on one coral reef or another. He missed the trip! We got the pears! If it were not for him you would never hear about the Bosc Pear .. the most beloved and absolute favorite pear of France!Read about the whole world of pears, see their shapes, their gorgeous green juicy bellies and their perfect green little bodies described in details.. love them all, short, tall, fat, skinny.. because they all are healthy and delicious. Learn the tricks how to find and plant perfect pear, how to tell when they are ready to eat, each one has different secrets..Learn what each variety is best for and what should be not attempted.See which pears will last the winter and which will not..Enjoy the very old images that in detail show the old orchard, monasteries and gardens where the trees grew in their splendor and how they were loved and how the secrets were kept, stolen and implemented..This is truly fascinating book. It is beautifully designed. It is a hard cover book with the dust sleeve over it.The size is awesome, not too small and unfriendly but not too big to be too awkward to handle.It is great to hold and read, or put on your coffee table for others to grab. Guaranteed conversation piece.The sleeve is shiny and beautiful. Art quality is impeccable, the images are amazing, the writing is breathtaking and awe inspiring.I am soo thrilled, I learned so much about pears, now every time I go to the store I look at them as a precious miracle that is given to us by those who came before us and preserved them for us andwhile they are long gone, their memory is still embedder in the names of some breeds. You truly start respecting the fruit!I am so happy with this book I have a burning need to get the apple book now! Yes there is one!AAAAAAAAAAABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!Give i a try! you will love it to. It is delicious book! :)

The information was lacking for my use on pears. I want to plant some pear trees and need more botanical and environmental information before starting my pear orchard. Otherwise, it is a good book for pear history.

delivered fast and for the best price by nice3 folks! this book is so beautiful. it is filled with information on every aspect of pears; history to growing, so wonderful and unique.

Many uses works excellent and is really what I needed for IdentificationCliffThank youKum Hui and Clifford EnglandEngland’s Orchard and Nursery2338 HIGHWAY 2004Mc Kee, KY. 40447-8342Specializing in alternative crops.

Very nice illustrations. If you are up to reading 8 point type this is the book for you.A few years ago publishers were bemoaning falling sales. Small type, pale inks anddifficult type face could account for part of that. The Kindle at least allows fora flow information but it lacks the aesthetic of the feel, smell and beauty ofa real book.

the friend I gave it to said it was a bit academic

This book is a masterpiece! Packed full of information and written in a very readable style. If you love horticulture in general, and pears in particular, you will cherish this book. The artwork is breathtaking. This is a must have reference work on pears. You will not be sorry for purchasing this one!

I had no idea the Pear had such rich depths, both culturally, and on the palate! The storytelling is sublime, taking you through from a simply mutation millions of years ago designed to target mammals, through the suspicious middle ages where it was reduced to a cooker, to the pomp of the french Court Gardens, before hitting their zenith in the 19th century, producing a staggering range of flavours, sizes, shapes and ripening times to cater for the private kitchen garden and dinner table. Knowing I could only find conference and rocha in any shop within a 5 mile radius of me, Joan Morgan inspired me to visit the national fruit collection and it was only then that the absurdity of the current situation hit home, with such a wealth of varieties all happily growing in the english sun yet no ability to taste their flavours elsewhere. I can verify Joan Morgans tasting notes are absolutely on point, so much more flavoursome than the supermarket, and I have subsequently invested in a range of dessert trees for season round interest, and to try my hand at perry making. Sorry market men, but you have lost my business forever. Thankyou Joan!

This is one of the finest fruit books ever written . The breadth of knowledge and wide ranging scholarship displayed within a most readable form is a rare achievement .In addition the watercolour illustrations are wonderful and the tasting notes are far more satisfying than in the apple book . This is probably because there are far fewer varieties to describe . Mention must also be made of the online photo feature . Just log into the address on the dust jacket and you can view photos of every single pear --from different angles as well !If I also mention that there are some good notes on perry pears and a first class identification chart ...well what more can one ask from a fruit book . This deserves the widest readership and should be awarded a prize for the best fruit book of 2015 in my opinion .

It seems a bit mean to only give this 4 stars as the written content of this book is superb; the amount of detailed information about, firstly, the history of pear cultivation and use in general, then about the individual varieties, is such that there is nothing else out there to equal this book. Most (though not all) varieties are available as scion wood or trees grafted to order from the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale, if they are not more readily available from specialist suppliers, so even with the more unusual varieties there is a real value to anyone thinking of planting up an orchard. I particularly like the assessment of eating quality - taste, texture, juiciness - even if it's subjective, it is real; not just some over- enthusiastic blurb in a catalogue.The downside for me is the tiny text. The book is so packed with information that it has been reduced to the miniscule in order to get it all in, and the typeface chosen doesn't seem to help. It might be better as an e-book if you struggle reading small print.The illustrations are beautiful in their own right, but I can't recognise pears from them; I find myself yearning for photos.This is halfway between a coffee table book and a hugely practical encyclopedia - either way, though, it is well worth buying.

The text is excellent . The information very detailed .BUTIf attempting to use it as a reference book for identification , it suffers with the same drawback as many other similar volumes .......Lack of a very comprehensive collection of pictures of the listed cultivars .Photographs will not ,( and cannot ) , however, match up to painted illustrations in similar definitive works , by such as Rosie Sanders , with her book , ' The English Apple ' and later ' The Apple Book ' ... even they could do with lots of extra cultivars !Nevertheless , a volume upon which one can , at least , begin to see the fruit for the trees ! !

This long awaited companion to The book of Apples is magnificent. Certainly in England there has not been such a definitive work on Pears since the Herefordshire Pomona, and in the U S Hedrick's Pears of New York. A wonderfully narrated story on the origins and history of the Pear and its cultivation, beautifully illustrated throughout. Joan Morgan writes so poetically making this much more than a reference guide to over 500 varieties.