The Pursuit of Paradise

Fülszöveg

Praise for Jane Brown's Lutyens and the Edwardians
'A beautifully written and strangely elegiac book' Roy Strong, The Times
'Meticulously researched and hauntingly evocative' Richard Davenport-Hines, Times Literary Supplement
'Jane Brown's wonderful book has the immediacy of the dynastic novel, a slice of social history capturing the elusive spirit of the age' Fiona MacCarthy, Observer

Jane Brown takes us on a Betjemanesque pilgrimage through the magical world of garden history. The Pursuit of Paradise provides a new perspective on this most ancient of human endeavours and reveals the secrets of other people's gardens and gardening habits.
As she observes, 'gardens and pleasure seem to be inextricably entwined, tied together as in a lovers' knot.' Through the centuries they have been sites of passion and toil, beauty and function, from the crazy paved paths and striped lawns of suburbia to the lure of the garden centre, the regimented plots of the militarists to the... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Praise for Jane Brown's Lutyens and the Edwardians
'A beautifully written and strangely elegiac book' Roy Strong, The Times
'Meticulously researched and hauntingly evocative' Richard Davenport-Hines, Times Literary Supplement
'Jane Brown's wonderful book has the immediacy of the dynastic novel, a slice of social history capturing the elusive spirit of the age' Fiona MacCarthy, Observer

Jane Brown takes us on a Betjemanesque pilgrimage through the magical world of garden history. The Pursuit of Paradise provides a new perspective on this most ancient of human endeavours and reveals the secrets of other people's gardens and gardening habits.
As she observes, 'gardens and pleasure seem to be inextricably entwined, tied together as in a lovers' knot.' Through the centuries they have been sites of passion and toil, beauty and function, from the crazy paved paths and striped lawns of suburbia to the lure of the garden centre, the regimented plots of the militarists to the aesthetic visions and secret gardens of the country estates and from ha-has to keep cows off the lawn to delicate flowers named after military generals. How did gardening become an art form? How and when did it become a respectable career for women? When did looking at (and into) other people's gardens become a British pastime? What have fashion, love, power, wealth, education and liberation got to do with gardening?
Using fascinating vignettes and examples of gardens as diverse as Blenheim and Derek Jarman's beach garden, Jane Brown explains how society's changes have affected our interaction with our natural environment. The Pursuit of Paradise is a witty and vibrant portrait of the nation engaged in its most popular pursuit. Essential reading for the horticulturally impassioned. Vissza