THE HIVE by Bee Wilson (John Murray, £14.99): WHEN Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France in 1804, the whole of Notre Dame was decked out in golden bees.

Napoleon's advisers knew that bees had represented the kings of Egypt. They also knew that 300 golden bees had been found in the tomb of the Merovingian king Childeric (c436-81), forerunner of the kings of France. Bees were therefore a way of making the transformation of Corsican peasant into supreme ruler of the French nation seem less preposterous."

That will give you a flavour of the aptly-named Bee Wilson's prose, which flows as easily as milk and honey in this fascinating account of what she subtitles "the story of the honeybee and us". Napoleon, whose coronation robes were also adorned with bees, enters under Politics, but there are chapters on Sex, Work, Who's Who in the Hive, Life and Death, Food and Drink, and, of course, the Beekeeper. Historic artworks illustrating the text add charm to a richly illuminating study of the complex insect that is vital to our survival.

SPADE, SKIRRET AND PARSNIP: The Curious History of Vegetables by Bill Laws (Sutton, £14.99)

SEPTEMBER 1 is the feast day of the patron saint of the spade, St Fiacre. In the 600s, the Irish worthy was granted permission to found a monastery in France on as much land as he could dig in a day. He turned the sod on an astonishing nine acres.

But it was the Romans who popularised the skirret, a fleshy-rooted vegetable which they brought to Britain, where it remained on the menu until the mid 19th century. It is still eaten in Japan and China.

The Romans brought the broad bean too. But did you know that potatoes were once denounced as evil, because of their suggestive shapes, their absence from the Bible, and the fact that they had to be buried like corpses? At Lewes in 1765, Protestant election candidates campaigned under the banner: "No Potatoes. No Popery.''

Manager of an organic garden on the Welsh borders, Bill Laws says he set out to dispel the perception of vegetables as dull and mundane. He succeeds admirably.

Harry Mead

Fight Fatigue: the 7-Day Diet Plan by Carolyn Humphries (Foulsham £8.99)

Diets often leave you listless, tired and unsatisfied. Now here's a seven-day plan to pep up your life, make you more alert and eat well while still losing weight. Recipes are of the easy-to-prepare and even tastier-to-eat variety, so there's no excuse not to get stuck in today.

Steve Craggs

Published: 05/07/2005