A Little History of British Gardening

Uglow, who won the PEN International Prize for History for Lunar Men, turns her attention from English inventors and scholars to English gardens. Her aim is modest, she writes,""a quest to uncover the gardens, plots and people of Britain in the past,"" and with this, she wonderfully captures the gardening of both the poor and the elite. She cleverly arranges her history into four parts that follow the stages of a growing plant:""Seed,""""Leaf,""""Flower,""""Fruit."" It was the Romans, she explains, who, seeing little outside of wheat and cattle farms,""created our first plant-filled spaces intended purely for enjoyment."" In the second part, she brings to light the gardening style and culture of the Jacobeans (""by now gardening was so entwined with courtly culture""); in""Flower,"" she appropriately discusses Victoriana; and in the final part, she brings gardening up to the 20th century. Highlighting this beautifully written history are lovely reproductions of historic etchings, calendars, books, stained glass and drawings of garden plans in both b&w and color.