The Remarkable Baobab

All trees are fascinating both from a biological point of view and a geometric one. But at least for this reviewer, there is no tree on Earth that holds as much fascination as the baobab. The author of this book clearly holds the same opinion, and with his commentary and the beautiful photos takes readers on a journey that they is the next best thing to the enviable journeys that the author has taken for real. One could only imagine the awesome and humbling feeling one would get standing in the presence of the baobab, with reports of the girth sometimes reaching 77 feet.But the author also reminds us that the beautiful can also be practical, as he describes the baobab as being a "godsend to the poor": its flowers and foliage can be eaten as fresh salad, and its bark can be made into roof tiles or rope.With six species living in Madagascar and the other two in Africa and Australia, the author gives brief explanations as to why they exist in regions thousands of miles apart. Some of these reasons are anecdotal, with the author favoring one based on the mobility of their seedpods.The future of the baobab is probably at the same level of certainty as other flora occupying their same habitats. The author addresses its survivability in the book. Maybe the techniques of genetic engineering can assist in their survivability in environments in which they are not custom. Whatever techniques are used, it is imperative that the baobab be encouraged to flourish. Its beauty alone gives it infinite utility.

Baobab is amazing. A great portal to a new interest.

Beautifully illustrated with original photos by the author. This book provides a brief "biography" about this most exotic and wonderful tree and a was a very pleasant read. Would be great as a coffee table book.

And I love them, too. Pakenham delivers ... wonderful photographic portraits of many baobabs combines with 'tree tales' ... his experiences, the legends, the uses- and abuses- of the "upside down tree", etc. If you love trees, you'll love this book (and, by the way, I have two others of his books, Meetings with Remarkable Trees and Remarkable Trees of the world, which are equally delightful!)

In his introduction, Pakenham notes, "[h]ere's a book bursting with ripe baobabs .... It's a personal book like its predecessors. I have scoured the world for baobabs with shapely limbs and unusual characters" (at p. 8). Here's the reality. Of the eight species of baobab, Pakenham has only seen five (missing three in Madagascar because "one of my family was ill and I was on borrowed time" (at p. 30; see also p. 8). That trip was made back in 2001, suggesting that Pakenham may have a different concept of "scouring" than the rest of us. Nor are any pictures of the three missing species offered, although a large number of the photographs in this book come from Corbis (see p. 142), with one illustrating a baobab in the Comoros (at pp. [122]-[23]), an archipelago that Pakenham does not appear to have visited, while another picture prominently features a non-baobab (at pp. [122]-[23]). This volume appears to be an offshoot of the author's Remarkable Trees of the World (2002), although there is evidence that Pakenham has incorporated materials from recent trips to St. Croix (see p. 127) and South Africa (see pp. 14, 97, 134). Why did he not return to Madagascar when this meant leaving almost 40% of the world's baobab species uncovered? The photographs of baobabs included in the book will mesmerize most readers; the trees are worthy subjects, and between his own photos, Corbis, Kew, and his British publisher, Pakenham has put together a wonderful collection of pictures. Those of us who have seen baobabs - my own first experience was in the Mozambique bush - find them unforgettable, and this excitement has been conveyed to potential readers. Fewer, though, will find all of Pakenham's chatty comments attractive. His description of his companion at Leydsdorp (apparently his wife- see the photograph at p. 94) as a "slip of a girl" (at p. 97), for example, seems a bit too much. The author does, however, have the gift of a light touch, and is able to convey a mass of information about the trees to his readers. Several facts were new and interesting to me although I researched the topic over a quarter of as century ago at Yale. These included the pods' appearance in Cairo markets in the 16th century (at p.13) and the 15th and 16th century graffiti found by Adanson on baobabs in Senegal in the 1750's (at p. 55). Herbert Basedow, who investigated a baobab in Australia in 1916, found bleached bones and a skull with a bullet hole (at p. 117), but Pakenham has no reference to the explorer in his bibliography (at p. 137; the information may come from Pat Lowe's The Boab Tree (1998), which is listed). Equally interesting is the probable importation of the tree to the Caribbean by black slaves (see pp. 127-28) and the legend that a hollow in the tree, opening at the full moon, would lead children back to Africa (at p. 131). The "upside-down" nature of the tree is explained in several stories (see p. 14)- a version not given by Pakenham states that the Creator replanted the tree in disgust, with its roots sticking out, after it had complained several times about its surroundings and had been duly replanted. The author does a good job of describing both the baobab's utility to native cultures and the uses to which it has been put by colonists. Not only can one pound a nail into the trunk without a hammer (see p. 13), but I can personally testify that a sharp twig can pierce the trunk. It is unfortunate that the distribution of species given (at p. 139) is not accompanied by a map. In sum, The Remarkable Baobab is a flawed, but ultimately fascinating, discussion of one of the world's arboreal wonders. One can but hope that other works will appear which deal more thoroughly with this genus.Samuel Pyeatt Menefee

This book will tell you everything there is to know about those amazing baobabs. Very detailed, and with abundant and beautiful illustrations on just about every page. Even if you are not interested in baobabs this book will turn you on!

It's the book that sets the standard on baobab books.

Would buy this again. Shows variety. Shows a baobab.

Book arrived promptly and was pretty much like new..thank you

Really nice book. Fantastic pictures.

SABIA DE LA EXISTENCIA DE LOS BAOBAS, PERO NO VISTOS TAN DE CERCA; UN ARBOL DIFERENTE, PECULIAR, TAN CARISMATICO. UN LUJO TENERLO EN LA NATURALEZA.

A very fine book with wonderful photographs that were a revelation and great text. It arrived quickly and in good condition.

I bought this book for a friend on our return from The Gambia - although unseen on purchase it turned out to be a lovely book with marvellous illustrations and informative text.