{"product_id":"the-forbidden-garden-of-leningrad","title":"The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad","description":"Condition: BRAND NEW\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781399714587\u003cbr\u003eFormat: B-format paperback\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2025\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Hodder \u0026amp; Stoughton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDescription:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA FINALIST FOR THE 2025 ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp; THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2025\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'\u003cb\u003eAn astonishing story brilliantly told . . . It is as moving as it is gripping to read'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJonathan Dimbleby, author of \u003ci\u003eEndgame 1944\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'A richly researched and meticulously observed account of a little-explored corner of 20th-century history'\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A fantastically well-researched history of science and sacrifice saturated in drama'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ei\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad - now St Petersburg - and began the longest blockade in recorded history. By the most conservative estimates, the siege would claim the lives of three-quarters of a million people. Most died of starvation.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt the centre of the embattled city stood a converted palace that housed the greatest living plant library ever amassed - the world's first seed bank. After attempts to evacuate the collection failed, and as supplies dwindled, the scientists responsible faced a terrible decision: should they distribute the specimens to the starving population, or preserve them in the hope that they held the key to ending global famine?\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on previously unseen sources, \u003ci\u003eThe Forbidden Garden \u003c\/i\u003etells the remarkable and moving story of the botanists who remained at the Plant Institute during the darkest days of the siege, risking their lives in the name of science.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A compelling account . . . a remarkable work of literary exhumation. The first full account of the Pl\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"ALLIANCE DIST - SF","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":41860231954565,"sku":"PR435286","price":31.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/0213\/3637\/files\/image_TTGCKKF8BRCW.jpg?v=1789121636","url":"https:\/\/smartfoxbooks.com.au\/products\/the-forbidden-garden-of-leningrad","provider":"Smartfox Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}