Of Cabbages and Kings: The History of Allotments

"An excellent account" of Britain's tradition of parceling out land for the public to grow food on, and the colorful history behind it (The Independent).

This lively book tells the story of the private garden plots known as allotments—from their origin in the seventeenth century, when new enclosures that deprived the peasantry of access to common lands were fiercely protested, to the victory gardens of the world wars, and into the present day, when they serve less as a means of survival tha...