Chance encounters -- One thousand dollars -- East of Suez -- Guest and protégé -- The listless Pacific -- One cause, one country -- Crossing countries -- Alligator pears -- Grapes of a Venetian monk -- Citrus maxima -- Lemons, leaves, and the dawn of new light -- On the banks of the Tigris -- Bell's grand plan -- A brain awhirl -- Cherry trees with no cherries -- The urge to walk -- Outlaws, brigands, and murderers -- Fly the coop -- Sad and mad and so utterly unnecessary -- Wij zijn Amerikanen -- Epilogue

The true adventures of David Fairchild, a late-nineteenth-century food explorer who travelled the globe and introduced diverse crops like avocados, mangoes, seedless grapes - and thousands more - to the American plate. Print run 40,000