Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology

Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology by Chris Bolgiano. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781884592492.

“In the youth of a man not yet old, native Chestnut was still to be seen in glorious array . . . the great forest below waving with creamy white Chestnut blossoms in the crowns of the ancient trees, so that it looked like a sea with white combers plowing across its surface.” — Naturalist Donald Culross Peattie DESCRIPTION: Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology is the inspiring story of an American symbol and the struggle to save it from the brink of extinction, the saga of a unique and exceptional tree that supported a way of life, that fed and sheltered our ancestors, and “touched almost every phase of our existence.” From Indians and early explorers, to colonists, naturalists, loggers, industrialists, and beyond, from presidents, poets, and artists, including Jefferson, Lincoln, Carter, Thoreau, Frost, Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and many more, the story of our once mighty, towering native chestnut tree is a lesson for our times. It is ultimately a story of how people, working together, can harness the power of community, scientific knowledge, and our growing awareness of the workings of nature to make a difference. Mighty Giants: An American Chestnut Anthology tells, in images and words, the story of the once mighty monarch of the eastern forests and the scientists who engaged in the struggle against “one of the greatest natural disasters in the history of forest biology”—perhaps the deadliest plant blight ever encountered. It is the story of the dedicated few who refused who give up: the fearless plant explorer who tracked down the blight in war-torn China, the plant pathologists and geneticists who labored long and valiantly to understand the blight and find a way to thwart it. It is also a story of hope, of small but vital triumphs, as the secrets of the American chestnut and its deadly nemesis are gradually revealed.