Get out in your garden and discover the history hidden in the hedges. Did the Romans have rakes? Did the monks get muddy? Did potatoes seem really, really weird when they arrived on our shores? Drawn from Jenny Uglow's own love for plants, 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 ornamental grasses and 'outdoor rooms' today. Tracking down the ordinary folk who worked the earth - from weeding women to florists - as well as aristocrats and grand designers and famous plant-hunters, A Little History of British Gardening is brought to life by gorgeously vivid illustrations and Uglow's insightful wisdom. Not only dealing with flowery meads, grottoes and vistas, landscapes and ha-has, parks and allotments, Uglow explains, 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 crisp, winter's day out - but also to read in your armchair with a well-earned glass of red, after a hard day's graft in your own garden. 'Enchanting, stirringly evocative and fascinating' Daily Mail 'This book will be a joy for any gardener' Independent

Gardens take many forms, and have a variety of functions. They can serve as spaces of peace and tranquilty, a way to cultivate wildlife, or as places to develop agricultural resources. Globally, gardens have inspired, comforted, and sustained people from all walks of life, and since the Garden of Eden many iconic gardens have inspired great artists, poets, musicians, and writers. In this short history, Gordon Campbell embraces gardens in all their splendour, from parks, and fruit and vegetable gardens to ornamental gardens, and takes the reader on a globe-trotting historical journey through iconic and cultural signposts of gardens from different regions and traditions. Ranging from the gardens of ancient Persia to modern day allotments, he concludes by looking to the future of the garden in the age of global warming, and the adaptive spirit of human innovation.

Through the stories of twenty-six inspiring figures - from ‘Capability’ Brown, Humphry Repton and Vita Sackville-West to lesser known figures, and present-day gardeners such as Beth Chatto and John Brookes - this book brings the colourful history of British gardening to life.

'This book will inspire and delight … the stories of these gardens so compellingly captured by George Plumptre make the reader stop and tarry awhile, marvelling at the energy, the vision and the passion of the people who created gardens such as Hidcote, Sissinghurst and Great Dixter.' (The English Garden) 'A feast of horticulture and Englishness.' (House & Garden) 'Tells the tale of the English Country House Gardens over the past 500 years expertly and informatively.' (Countryside Magazine) 'Sure to become a classic.' (Garden Design Journal) Gardening Book of the Year 2014 (Daily Telegraph) Revised and updated edition. There is something special about the English country house garden: from its quiet verdant lawns to its high yew hedges, this is a style much-desired and copied around the world. The English country house is most often conceived as a private, intimate place, a getaway from working life. A pergola, a sundial, a croquet lawn, a herbaceous border of soft planting; here is a space to wander and relax, to share secrets, and above all to enjoy afternoon tea. But even the most peaceful of gardens also take passion and hard work to create. This new book takes a fresh look at the English country house garden, starting with the owners and the stories behind the making of the gardens. Glorious photographs capture the gardens at their finest moments through the seasons, and a sparkling and erudite text presents twenty-five gardens - some grand, some personal, some celebrated, some never-before-photographed - to explore why this garden style has been so very enduring and influential. From the Victorian grandeur of Tyntesfield and Cragside, to the Arts & Crafts simplicity of Rodmarton Manor and Charleston; from Scampston, in the same family since the 17th century, to new gardens by Dan Pearson and Tom Stuart-Smith; and with favourites such as Hidcote and Great Dixter alongside new discoveries, this book will be a delicious treat for garden-lovers.

A Short History of the English People is a book written by English historian John Richard Green. Originally published in 1874, "it is a history, not of English Kings or English Conquests, but of the English People." Green began work on the book in 1869, having been given only six months to live after being hit hard by disease that had plagued him throughout his life. Only having around 800 pages to write on, he had to leave out much of what he wanted to include. Green intentionally left out the battles of England feeling they did not play a big role in the formation of the nation, saying that historians "too often turned history into a mere record of the butchery of men by their fellow men." His new ideas, and omission of information that others felt important, meant Green was criticized by other historians as well as the people close to him. Others thought highly of the book, including Francis Adams, who used quotations from the book in his poem 'The Peasants' Revolt'.--Wikipedia (accessed 28 October 2022).