Just the Tonic: a History of Tonic Water

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Just the Tonic is an accessible yet informative history of tonic water: its connections to the major disease malaria, the cure discovered in the bitter bark of the cinchona tree and its constituent alkaloid quinine. It is a history deeply intertwined with botanical exploration and empire in the Victorian era, and the role of botanical gardens such as Kew.

Reviews

"Just the Tonic brings together three strands to tell a single story, mixing well-informed historical narrative and quirky anecdote. . . . The book is beautifully produced. It abounds with magnificent and sometimes surprising illustrations, all carefully chosen, coming from the unparalleled collections of Kew Gardens and the Wellcome Collection."-- "Gastronomica"

"Well-presented and laid out, the writing is engaging. Photographs, posters, prints, and botanical artwork grace almost every page and make this the first authoritative history of tonic water an ideal gift."

Author Bio

Kim Walker trained as a medical herbalist, and now specialises in the history of plant medicines. She is currently working on a PhD on cinchona at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She is on the committee of the Herbal History Research Network, the British Society for the History of Pharmacy and is a member of the Association of Foragers. She is the co-author of The Handmade Apothecary (Kyle Books, 2017) and The Herbal Remedy Handbook (Kyle Books, 2019). Mark Nesbitt is curator of the Economic Botany Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and his research centres on botany and empire in the nineteenth century, and on the history and current day management of botanical collections. He is the co-author of Curating Biocultural Collections (Kew Publishing, 2014) and The Botanical Treasury (Andre Deutsch, 2016).