Out in paperback

A HEDGE and a horror, light and dark science—there’s an eclectic bunch of paperbacks this month. Roy Moxham’s The Great Hedge of India describes his search for an extraordinary barrier stretching a thousand miles through northern India in the late 19th century. Thorny trees—the Indian plum, prickly pear and acacia—formed an impenetrable living wall about 5 metres tall. Its purpose was to control the trade in salt, which was taxed heavily to swell the coffers of the British. Follow Moxham on his indefatigable hunt for the Great Hedge through libraries, across fields and in and out of villages across the Punjab. Moxham deals with both the…