Hawthorn was named an Honor Book in the 2016 Montana Book Award Contest "This is a book that has offered me completely new perspectives on not just the hawthorn but on its role in human history. More to the point, human history through the lens of the hawthorn is itself an extraordinary journey. Bill Vaughn is a master storyteller and gifted historian. His research ranges from the global uses of hawthorn for heart health to how the Celtic tribes used hawthorn in their sword making processes and finally to how it played out in American history. He pulls it all together by bringing two disparate people from his family history as they met again at a remote place in the U.S. to become powerful players in the days of the old west. It is now one of the books I will forever keep in my personal library of meaningful and significant books." —Stacey Remick-Simkins, Goodreads “Bill Vaughn romps through the thickets and hedgerows of biology and culture, emerging with fascinating tales about an unjustly neglected species.” —David George Haskel, author of The Forest Unseen
“Hawthorn is a delightful book about a tree that has deeply influenced European and American landscapes and cultures. Vaughn is a gifted storyteller who writes with flair and nuance.” —Ruth Kassinger, author of A Garden of Marvels Website designed by Bill Vaughn
Hawthorn has been published in Simplified Chinese by the Commercial Press of Shanghai
“Bill Vaughn fully succeeds in making the reader feel as if he has followed along on a journey of revelation inspired by a chance encounter with a hawthorn. The book is exceedingly original and the author does an excellent job weaving together a wide range of material.” —Todd A. Forrest, The New York Botanical Garden
"The hawthorn story is as multi-layered as its appearance and Vaughn's narrative is tight, but never impenetrable." Jack Watkins, Optima Magazine
“A fascinating exploration into how a tough, thorny tree could have so much human and personal history carved into it, from war and famine to fairy tales and founding fathers. Hawthorn tells a story as charmingly and intricately branching as its subject.” —Paul Collins, author of Murder of the Century