title: American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree
author:  Susan Freinkel 
description: In the first years of the 20th century, a mysterious blight began to infect the majestic American chestnut trees of the east. Thirty years later, as many as four billion had been felled by a virulent scourge from Asia, sweeping like a relentless wildfire through forests from Maine to Georgia. Freinkel's enthralling synthesis of science and sentiment chronicles the devastating impact of the chestnut tree's precipitous disappearance on generations of hardscrabble Appalachian homesteaders, who lost a flavorful nugget of nutrition that got their families through bitter winters, and on flummoxed but determined botanists, who battled with politicians in the early 1900s about the best way to halt the blight's inexorable advance. As the presence of towering stands of the perfect tree faded into melancholic memory, she shows that resolute citizens and scientists have set out, with almost religious fervor, to resurrect the deadwith signs of success. Detailed explanations of the science of crossbreeding, hypovirulence (fighting disease by infecting the infection) and genetic engineering often make for heavy if informative slogging. But time after time, this impassioned book strikes resonant emotional chords that transform dry facts into dynamic prose. <i>(Nov.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  Gudrun Frerichs
  
  
  Girl From The Tree House
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  First published by Gudrun Frerichs 2019
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2019 by Gudrun Frerichs
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or
  transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
  recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the
  publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or
  distribute it by any other means without permission.
  
  
  
  
  
  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents
  portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to
  actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  Gudrun Frerichs asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this
  work.
  
  
  
  
  
  Gudrun Frerichs has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs
  for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this 