The Olive Route: A Personal Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean

Author's travels around the Med researching the history of the olive. Somehow it didn't work too well for me as seemed too much of a mix of travelogue and information book and therefore not ideal as either. She works the information into the 'story' (and this sometimes seemed a bit contrived). I found the parts detailing her travels and the problems of doing the journey, especially as a woman on her own, interesting, but tended to skim over some of the bits on olives more, though this was partly because I lacked the background to put the information about ancient civilisations of the area into context very well. So, in summary, quite readable and interesting, but not outstanding.

This is the last one of all Carol Drinkwater's book on olives that I have read, and it is the best of the bunch.
The author travel to the eastern Mediterranean countries of Libya, Lebanon, Malta, Greece, Crete and Israel in search of the olive trees. On the way she observes and describes the culture. On the way she faces quite a few hurdles from strongly male dominated societies that cannot fathom a woman travelling alone.

"I had originally set off in search of the historical roots of the olive tree in the autumn of 2001", writes the owner of a French olive farm, while her marriage was hanging by a slender thread, and 9/11/2001 intervened. A botanical sleuth on a quest. Describes the ruins of the Peloponnese, the Levant, Turkey, Carthage, Crete, and places in between, for traces of the oliviers. Also noting the behavior and often the absences of women in the villages. [Pities Bedouin women 61, breakout in Syrian household 73, key to security for Tunisian women 166, compassionate woman 280.]

Notes the evidence, scant, of any real religious belief in these ancient pagan, Islamic, Christian, and Jewish regions, so filled with real religion only in landscape show more and in the verities of the gregale and meltemi [169].

Drawing upon linguistic etymologies, ethnic lore, archeological scholarship and keen observation, Drinkwater visits the sites of ancient olive culture.

In Bechealeh there live olive trees older than Cedars, and undiscovered by tourists. They date back 6000 years.[20]

In the journey and the book, she lit a lamp for peace. show less

Much interesting detail of places where most tourists are unlikely to visit.