Italian Gardens: A Cultural History

'The text is erudite and immensely readable, and the many photographs perfectly capture the varied delights of these gardens. An ideal present for gardeners and garden lovers everywhere.' - Good Book Guide

To many of us, the great gardens of Italy seem like paradise on earth. But how much do we know of their history, and the people who created them? 

In this ravishing book, illustrated with contemporary paintings, drawings and prints as well as photographs of the gardens today, Helena Attlee tells their story. She starts with Petrarch – still looking to medieval chronicles for advice on how and when to plant – and goes on to the Renaissance and those first gardens to emerge from architects' plans. Then she describes the great gardens of the Medici; the first botanic gardens; the weird Mannerist gardens and their grottoes followed by the Baroque splendour of Isola Bella and the Villa Aldobrandini; the Neoclassical and Picturesque gardens of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and how, in the twentieth century, expatriates with money to lavish on their villas and gardens brought new delights.

HELENA ATTLEE is an author and journalist who has made the garden and its history her special subject. Her books include The Gardens of Portugal and Gardens of Wales (all published by Frances Lincoln). She lectures widely, writes for a wide range of journals and magazines, and leads specialist garden tours. She lives in Presteigne, Powys, with her husband, the photographer Alex Ramsay.
ALEX RAMSAY is well known as an award-winning photographer of architecture, gardens and landscapes. His work has appeared in leading magazines worldwide and illustrates many books including Helena Attlee's Gardens of Wales.