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A Little History Of British Gardening

Jenny Uglow

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Published by Pimlico, part of Vintage Publishing

Format: Paperback

£14.99

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Details

EAN: 9780712664943
Published: 5 May 2005

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About the book

Synopsis

Did the Romans have rakes? Did the monks get muddy? Did the potato seem really, really weird when it arrived on our shores?

This lively 'potted' history of gardening in Britain takes us on a garden tour from the thorn hedges around prehistoric settlements to the rage for decking and ornamental grasses today. It tracks down the ordinary folk who worked the earth - the apprentice boys and weeding women, the florists and nursery gardeners - as well as aristocrats and grand designers and famous plant-hunters. Coloured by Jenny Uglow's own love for plants, and brought to life in the many vivid illustrations, it deals not only with flowery meads, grottoes and vistas, landscapes and ha-has, parks and allotments, but tells you, for example, how the Tudors made their curious knots; how housewives used herbs to stop freckles; how the suburbs dug for victory in World War II.

With a brief guide to particular historic or evocative gardens open to the public, this is a book to put in your pocket when planning a summer day out - but also to read in your deckchair with a glass of cold wine, when dead-heading is simply too much.

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Press

What the critics say

Uglow's account of a national obsession is a delight from beginning to end
- The Observer

This book will be a joy for any gardener
- The Independent

The biographer of Gaskell and Hogarth now takes us into the garden, where plants glow and miniature landscapes unfold at the touch of her easy prose
- Sunday Telegraph

Enchanting, stirringly evocative and fascinating
- Daily Mail

Elegant history...It is beautifully written and lets you see your own humble plot in its historical and geographical context
- Daily Telegraph

About the Author

Jenny Uglow is the author of biographies of Elizabeth Gaskell and William Hogarth (both shortlisted for the Whitbread) and most recently, The Lunar Men, winner of the PEN International Prize for history and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

Jenny Uglow

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