03301cam a2200385 i 4500 1680894758 TxAuBib 20241119120000.0 240703s2024||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2024030974 9781668007662 HRD 30.00 1668007665 HRD 30.00 TxAuBib rda Parkin, Simon, author. The forbidden garden [BOOK] : the botanists of besieged Leningrad and their impossible choice / Simon Parkin. Botanists of besieged Leningrad and their impossible choice. First Scribner hardcover edition. New York : Scribner, [2024] 371 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-360) and index. "In the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad—now St. Petersburg—and began the longest blockade in recorded history, one that would ultimately claim the lives of nearly three-quarters of a million people. At the center of the besieged city stood a converted palace that housed the world’s largest collection of seeds—more than 250,000 samples hand-collected over two decades from all over the globe by world-famous explorer, geneticist, and dissident Nikolai Vavilov, who had recently been disappeared by the Soviet government. After attempts to evacuate the priceless collection failed and supplies dwindled amongst the three million starving citizens, the employes at the Plant Institute were left with a terrible choice. Should they save the collection? Or themselves? These were not just any seeds. The botanists believed they could be bred into heartier, disease-resistant, and more productive varieties suited for harsh climates, therefore changing the future of food production and preventing famines like those that had plagued their countrymen before. But protecting the seeds was no idle business. The scientists rescued potato samples under enemy fire, extinguished bombs landing on the seed bank’s roof, and guarded the collection from scavengers, the bitter cold, and their own hunger. Then in the war’s eleventh hour, Nazi plunderers presented a new threat to the collection... Drawing from previously unseen sources, journalist Simon Parkin tells the incredible true story of the botanists who held their posts at the Plant Institute during the 872-day siege and the remarkable sacrifices they made in the name of science.". 20241119. Vavilov, N. I Nikolaĭ Ivanovich 1887-1943. Ivanov, N. R Nikolaĭ Rodionovich. Brücher, Heinz 1915-1991. Vsesoi͡uznyĭ institut rastenievodstva (Soviet Union.) Botanical specimens Collection and preservation History 20th century. World War, 1939-1945 Destruction and pillage Soviet Union. Seed banks Russia Federation Saint Petersburg History. Botanists Soviet Union Biography. Saint Petersburg (Russia) History Siege, 1941-1944.