'The Forbidden Garden' details the tragic backstory of the world's first seed bank

During World War II, as Nazi forces besieged the Russian city of Leningrad, scientists at the city's famed seed bank made a pact to protect the collection and consume nothing, even if it could have extended their lives. The siege lasted nearly three years, killing an estimated 1.5 million people. A new book by British author Simon Parkin details this foundational story of modern plant gene banking, and what it means when hunger is used as a weapon of war.