Whales are the largest animals ever to have lived on the earth; a large Blue Whale's tongue alone can weigh more than an elephant. This title recounts the evolutionary and ecological background, as well as the cultural history, of these extraordinary mammals, long persecuted and now celebrated throughout the world.

In Tulip, Celia Fisher traces the story of this important and highly popular plant, from its mountain beginnings to its cultivation in the gardens of Mughul, Persian and Ottoman potentates, and its migration from East to West along the silk trading routes.