Eden [Hardcover]

Tim Smit, author of Eden, is obsessed with horticulture (no mere "gardening" for him). In restoring the Lost Gardens of Heligan he has become an acolyte of a great, though rarely remembered, philosophy--one that ties our welfare as a species to our relationship with plants.

The Eden Project is, in his own statement: "a vast complex of soap bubble-shaped greenhouses (the largest in the world) which interpret and explain our dependence upon the plant kingdom." Eden the book is his definitive account of the project from its beginnings--an account handsomely and often wittily illustrated (a good gift book). More importantly, it is well written.

Smit is trenchant about his aims: "Why, for God’s sake, put yourself...through years of grief to build a crappy theme park so that some smartass can define it in a sentence?" he asks. By creating something more than a mere "product"--and by doing it in an old clay pit in Cornwall--Smit and his colleagues faced daunting challenges. Larger-than-life characters pepper the book which is more about people than plants.

Well over a million people have already visited the Eden Project. But this book is more than a celebration, more than a memento; it is too honest and exhaustive to be a mere statement of vision. It is, all in all, a rather unlikely bestseller--a contender for best business book of the year. --Simon Ings

With several high-profile public projects going belly up, the opening of the Eden Project in Cornwall in March 2001 had many holding their breath. Would this Living Theatre of Plants and People prove to be another spectacular failure or the astonishing adventure we were promised? The hundreds of thousands of visitors who have voted with their feet by visiting the project since March prove quite categorically that this is a success, and it is salutary how under-reported this success has been compared to better-known failures. But all of that will change with this (and with several other new books and TV programmes) which celebrates an ambitious project. Smit tells the remarkable story of the Eden Project, of its conception and construction, and the many larger-than-life personalities involved. Smit's track record, of course, includes The Lost Gardens of Heligan and the same skills are more than evident here.

The opening of the Eden Project in Cornwall in March 2001 brought a welcome touch of flamboyance and optimisim to a country that was somewhat lacking in both. The hundreds of thousands who have since poured through the gates of the Living Theatre of Plants and People have been left in no doubt that here was a venture of unparalleled ambition and imagination, and one that just might change the world in the way it intends. In this book, creator Tim Smit tells the story of the project, of its conception and construction, and of the larger-than-life personalities involved.

'We live in times of great change and big concerns and most of us feel small in the face of what might lie in store. 'With passion and commitment thousands of "small" people built Eden as a symbol of hope in action. 'We may all have feet of clay, but that shouldn't stop us trying to make a difference. Wouldn't we all rather look back and say, "I'm glad I did," rather than "I wish I had"? 'We make no apology for bringing people of differing opinions together, if in doing so we find solutions that will improve all our lives and make the world a better place for all living things. 'Some might smile at the naivety of such ambition, believing it to be impossible. We say, "Demand the impossible"' - Tim Smit

The impossible has been delivered: a living theatre of plants and people and their interdependence, housed in a disused china clay pit and featuring the world's largest greenhouses. Well over a million visitors have made their way to Eden, drawn by the astonishing, visionary ambition of its founders. Now, in this beautiful book, Tim Smit tells the story of the Eden Project: its genesis in the Lost Gardens of Heligan, its design and construction against all the odds, its supremely talented team of larger-than-life personalities. Above all, he tells how the energy that brought the vision to life is being applied to possible futures. It is a vision for all to share.

Tim Smit was born in Holland in 1954 and educated at Durham University. He worked as a county archaeologist before spending ten years as record producer/composer, successful in Europe, USA and Japan. He moved with his family to Cornwall in 1987.