"Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany" is completely comprehensive in its treatment of the topic. I have read dozens and dozens of books about cannabis, but none come close to matching this book's scope. What makes the book truly great is that it provides so much material that will be of interest to anyone intrigued by this multipurpose plant.
The book's authors, Robert Connell Clarke and Mark Merlin, bring decades of experience to this magnum opus. Because Clarke and Merlin have spent considerable time as field researchers, their experience with the plant on every continent informs their writing with "ground truth". And that's why I consider the work to be seminal.
I met Mark Merlin eighteen months ago and asked if he and Robert Clarke would consider letting me read this book as they prepared it for publication. They consented. Lucky me. This is a superb book and I simply loved reading it. I've actually read it a few times, because there is so much interesting and detailed material within.
Nearly every single aspect of how human beings use the cannabis plant is covered within: from discreet hemp cultivation in Japan to be woven into ritual garments for the Imperial Family to breeding of contemporary drug cultivars in the Netherlands and California. Each chapter introduces fascinating and compelling scholarship, illustrated by excellent photographs from Clarke's collection and very informative maps. One of the book's most interesting features is the examination of how cannabis has evolved into fiber and drug plants over the millennia. Clarke and Merlin propose a very persuasive and well-supported taxonomy for the plant.
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