Thomas Volney Munson was a horticulturalist in Texas between the mid 19th century and the early 20th century. He developed over 300 varieties of grapes, wrote Foundations of American Grape Culture, and was instrumental in assisting the French to restock their vines after the phylloxera epidemic in the late 1800s. I'm not sure if he was a dull man or if this was just a dull book, but it didn't hold my interest very well. The information was good, but it dragged on, and the extensive footnotes at the end of the book contained pertinent information, so there was much going back & forth between the text and the notes. I am a big fan of Missouri wines and their history, and there was a good deal of information about some of the Missouri vintners who were colleagues of Munson. There was too much technical information, and the personal information was told woodenly. Some beautiful pictures, though. ( )