They feed us, shelter us, clothe us, cure us and clean the air that we breathe. "The Roots of Civilisation" takes a closer look at these plants that most of us just take for granted, but which have changed the world, for better and for worse. The story of these plants is also the story of human survival and ingenuity, the invention of agriculture, the greed of men and their rulers, and the founding of trade routes and empires. In this title, advances in science and medicine are charted and there are the new frontiers such as genetic modification and the plants grown by NASA in outer space. "The Roots of Civilisation" looks not only at the better known world-changers like opium, tobacco, cotton and the orchid, but also at the humbler flora that have quietly but profoundly shaped human civilisation.