The Cactus Hunters

This book covers a lot of stuff and offers interesting reflections, but its tone is dry and it contains a lot of jargony words (particularly in the parts that focus on the psychoanalytic side of things) which gets frustrating at times, especially when Margulies lets some personality slip into the text and you realize that he is capable of writing in a compelling way. If you can get past that it's a sprawling account of what makes the succulent trade what it is from conservation efforts to collectors to historical factors. The part about Czech collectors was particularly charming and unexpected (at least for a planty person who isn't into succulents at all it was) and I would happily recommend this book on account of that part.

Many thanks to the University of Minnesota Press and Netgalley for providing me an eARC of this book for review consideration.