From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, seeds support diets, economies, and civilizations across the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg helped drive the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment, and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the Fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat. In this remarkable book, Thor Hanson reveals how seeds are the very stuff and staff of life. Spanning the globe, from the Raccoon Shack—Hanson’s backyard writing hideout-cum-laboratory—to the coffee shops of Seattle to the spice routes of Kerala, The Triumph of Seeds takes us on an intriguing scientific adventure. Yet despite their importance, seeds are often seen as a commonplace, their extraordinary natural and human histories overlooked. Thanks to Thor Hanson and this stunning new book, they can be overlooked no more. What makes The Triumph of Seeds remarkable is not just that it is informative, humane, hilarious, and even moving, just as what makes seeds remarkable is not simply their fundamental importance to life. This is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder, spun by an award-winning writer with both the charm of a fireside story-teller and the hard-won expertise of a field biologist. The Triumph of Seeds takes us on a fascinating scientific adventure through the wild and beautiful world of seeds.