`Comprehensive and highly informative, The European Discovery of the Indian Flora is a welcome addition to the growing literature on science in colonial India. . . . the elegance of Desmond's writing and the sumptuous illustrations which grace this book make it highly accessible and a pleasure to read British Journal for the History of Science

• List of plates; The ancient world; The first European settlements; Arrival of the British; Botanical research begins; Sir William Jones; The Roxburgh era; Francis Buchanan; Calcutta Botanic Garden after Roxburgh; Other botanical gardens; William Griffith and Robert Wight; The Himalayas; Ceylon; Pursuit of the picturesque; A century of change; The search for useful plants; Green medicine; Tea and opium; Rubber, coffee, and forestry; Gardening in India; Indian flowers in European gardens; Transportation of plants; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.

`Comprehensive and highly informative, The European Discovery of the Indian Flora is a welcome addition to the growing literature on science in colonial India. . . . the elegance of Desmond's writing and the sumptuous illustrations which grace this book make it highly accessible and a pleasure to read British Journal for the History of Science

• List of plates; The ancient world; The first European settlements; Arrival of the British; Botanical research begins; Sir William Jones; The Roxburgh era; Francis Buchanan; Calcutta Botanic Garden after Roxburgh; Other botanical gardens; William Griffith and Robert Wight; The Himalayas; Ceylon; Pursuit of the picturesque; A century of change; The search for useful plants; Green medicine; Tea and opium; Rubber, coffee, and forestry; Gardening in India; Indian flowers in European gardens; Transportation of plants; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.

`Comprehensive and highly informative, The European Discovery of the Indian Flora is a welcome addition to the growing literature on science in colonial India. . . . the elegance of Desmond's writing and the sumptuous illustrations which grace this book make it highly accessible and a pleasure to read British Journal for the History of Science

• List of plates; The ancient world; The first European settlements; Arrival of the British; Botanical research begins; Sir William Jones; The Roxburgh era; Francis Buchanan; Calcutta Botanic Garden after Roxburgh; Other botanical gardens; William Griffith and Robert Wight; The Himalayas; Ceylon; Pursuit of the picturesque; A century of change; The search for useful plants; Green medicine; Tea and opium; Rubber, coffee, and forestry; Gardening in India; Indian flowers in European gardens; Transportation of plants; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.