Army warrant officer and camp cook Brook Turner waters his lawn three times a day and trims it with scissors as necessary. This bed of grass calls to mind the comforts of home—calm, nurturing and peaceful—that at times of war must seem worlds away. In Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime, Kenneth I. Helphand presents the compelling case that healing gardens are built not only for relief from difficult challenges, but also to humanize landscapes in the most extreme social, political, economic and cultural conditions.