The Brief Life of Flowers

The beauty of flowers is well known, inspiring creative minds from Botticelli to Beatrix Potter. But they've also played a key part in forming the past, and may shape our future.

Roses and thistles have served as symbols of monarchs, dynasties and nations. We wear poppies to remember the First World War, but it was the elderflower that treated its wounded soldiers. A rose might mend a broken heart, and sunflowers may just save our planet.

At once enchanting and intriguing, THE BRIEF LIFE OF FLOWERS reveals how even the most ordinary of flowers have extraordinary stories to tell.

“A glowing account of the myths and meanings we impose on flowers . . . a book to reread and treasure”

- Sunday Times

Fiona Stafford is Professor of English at the University of Oxford. She specialises in literature of the Romantic period (especially Wordsworth, Austen, Burns, Keats, Clare), Scottish and Irish literature, contemporary poetry, environmental humanities and nature writing, literature and the visual arts. In addition to academic books and essays, she contributes to newspapers, literary magazines, art books and collections of nature writing. She is the author of The Long, Long Life of Trees, and Jane Austen: A Brief Life.

The beauty of flowers is well known, inspiring creative minds from Botticelli to Beatrix Potter. But they've also played a key part in forming the past, and may shape our future.Roses and thistles have served as symbols of monarchs, dynasties and nations. We wear poppies to remember the First World War, but it was the elderflower that treated its wounded soldiers. A rose might mend a broken heart, and sunflowers may just save our planet. At once enchanting and intriguing, THE BRIEF LIFE OF FLOWERS reveals how even the most ordinary of flowers have extraordinary stories to tell.

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