The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad

by Simon Parkin

ISBN: 9781399714587

Published: 2025-08-14

'An astonishing story brilliantly told . . . It is as moving as it is gripping to read' Jonathan Dimbleby, author of Endgame: 1944 'A richly researched and meticulously observed account of a little-explored corner of 20th-century history' Guardian 'A fantastically well-researched history of science and sacrifice saturated in drama' i In the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad - now St Petersburg - and began the longest blockade in recorded history. By the most conservative estimates, the siege would claim the lives of three-quarters of a million people. Most died of starvation. At the centre of the embattled city stood a converted palace that housed the greatest living plant library ever amassed - the world's first seed bank. After attempts to evacuate the collection failed, and as supplies dwindled, the scientists responsible faced a terrible decision: should they distribute the specimens to the starving population, or preserve them in the hope...