A wonderfully glorious look at a selection of the world's most historical gardens, their reasons for being, history and planting styles.

This is a gorgeous book that gives a different perspective on gardens that I really enjoyed. It explains gardening from a historical perspective (what elements were adopted when) and makes me want to visit all of these gardens!

The theme is a great idea - show famous and historic gardens in order of establishment to demonstrate how gardens were used from medieval times and what they contained. Alhambra, Winchester are among the early ones. Therefore it seems odd that 'Thomas Jefferson' are the first two words of the book.

While the choices seem lovely and text is just enough detail about each one, I am afraid almost all the photos did not display in my e-ARC and so I am unable to give a proper review. Each page has one or more photos and this is clearly a major incentive to buy the book. I would be willing to look at this again with photos.

I downloaded an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

This is more than the history of landscape design - it's HISTORY, period. Of civilization, of art and science, of exploration and colonization, of famous people and famous places, of changing tastes and ever-expanding knowledge; all laid out through the natural and cultivated spaces surrounding homes, settlements and cities over the past millennia-plus. From Hadrian's Villa to Versailles; from Kyoto's centuries-old "moss garden," Saiho-ji, to San Diego's mission-inspired Balboa Park; from George Washington's Mount Vernon to modernist sculpture gardens and Prince Charles' organic farm - this book is full of so much interesting and inspiring history, photographs and information that it took me a few months of savoring to get through it.

My only criticism is that most of the book was centered on Europe and North America, and it would've been great to see more representation from the other continents and cultures around the world.

I am reviewing this book for Linda A. Chisholm, Timber Press and NetGalley who gave me a copy of their book for an honest review.
This is such a lovely book, full of rich stories and even better pictures. I have a history with Landscape Architecture, and this hearkens me back to my college days. This book is both good for the layman garden lover or the professional looking for inspiration. It is also wonderful for the traveler looking to plan their next trip or getaway. I love that I can look through this book and learn something new everytime I read it. A wonderful coffee table book! Check it out. Definitely worth it.

Amazing photos of gardens across the world! I perfect read for anyone interested in landscape design.

In this large and sumptuous volume, the author aims to illustrate the history of garden design and explain why particular garden styles prevailed at particular times. It isn't intended to be a guide to the 100 best gardens - although many of the gardens within its bindings would probably fall to be regarded as such. It encompasses garden styles from Roman times onward, taking in monastic and aristocratic gardens, and from different traditions - Islamic gardens, Chinese & Japanese gardens and European gardens where this style was adopted. There are medieval and Renaissance gardens, Arts & Crafts gardens, a comparatively small number of more contemporary gardens. Unsurprisingly, the gardens chosen are generally large and predominantly European.

It was a lovely overview of the world's gardens but sometimes the essays fell short of tying the garden to the premise, to become simple descriptions. It was a large undertaking that tends to run away from the author. That said, I can see it on the bookshelves of every gardener and garden historian.
Thank you to the publishers for the advanced readers copy in return for an honest review.

Such a beautiful book that inspires travel! It was lovely to break down the history of gardens in an easy-to-follow manner; split in 17 chapters that describe major historic gardens I was able to read information without becoming overwhelmed (as I tend to be when reading non-fiction). Whenever I travel I try to visit botanical gardens but hadn't even thought of visiting individual famous gardens -- this book has brought that desire to the forefront. A great book for those who love gardens, history, and travel.

Beautiful and well written book taking a detailed look - through history, analysis, and photos - at 100 different gardens and landscapes. This is a fantastic book for gardeners, historians.