I am privileged to live near an orchard. And not just any orchard but one that grows an assortment of apples bearing names that could have been plucked from a Dickens novel – Saint Edmund’s Pippin, D’arcy Spice, Worcester Pearmain, and more. Though unusually diverse by modern standards, the fifty varieties grown by this orchard are a drop in the ocean compared to the 7,500 varieties worldwide, each expressing in their flavors and appearances the uniqueness of the place from which they originated.

Though the apple is world renowned, perhaps less well known is its rich and varied history. In her latest book, The Apple: A Delicious History, Sally Coulthard has trawled through the archives to uncover the intriguing, strange, and sometimes absurd history of this most cherished and alluring fruit. With her witty and jovial prose, Coulthard puts the apple firmly on center stage and showcases the surprising role this humble fruit has played in shaping the world today.

Coulthard takes us on a journey beginning where the apple originated, deep in the valleys of the Tien Shan mountains, across the Silk Road to Europe, where the apple captivated the ancient Greeks, and all the way to regal European courts where kings and queens from Charlemagne to Victoria fawned over the flavors of new varieties. We see how the fruit conquered the New World through the industrious exploits of the aptly named Johnny Appleseed, who may have planted a million trees and helped fuel westward expansion. And finally, we read how the apple became a truly global fruit as demand soared and new lands were sought where conditions were ripe for this fruit to flourish, Down Under and in the Far East.

Coulthard ends each chapter with a selection of apple-based recipes from ancient cookbooks, along with their often humorous backstories. We discover sweet appelbeignets, indulgent apple biffins, the contested history of apple crumble, and the apparent use of apples to garnish a tortoise! One can’t help but be tempted to try out some of these long-forgotten recipes for oneself.

But all this rich culinary and genetic diversity is under profound threat. Coulthard’s final chapter serves as a plea for help on behalf of the precious heritage varieties facing extinction, ironically because we are not eating enough of them. The supermarkets dominating our food system tend to stock only four or five varieties. Heritage apples rarely conform to the airbrushed aesthetic standards required by supermarkets, and are thus often neglected. Traditional orchards, full of abundant wildlife and rare apples, are being condemned as uneconomical. Our generation runs the risk that our part in this history will be losing, perhaps for good, the rich and wonderful diversity of the apple.

All is not hopeless. We can play a part in the apple’s continual story – by purchasing local varieties from an orchard or perhaps even planting a heritage apple tree. We can perpetuate the remarkable variety of this wonderful fruit for future generations to enjoy. As Coulthard remarks, “Only by celebrating the apple’s incredible diversity and unique heritage will we ensure that its delicious history will continue.”