The Arcadian Friends

by Tim Richardson

The story of Britain’s greatest, and most under-appreciated art form — the 18th century landscape garden, the only art form to have originated wholly in Britain. It’s a wonderfully engaging account of the eccentrics who created these gardens, and of a period bursting with creativity.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Gardening

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Michael Pennington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining

[Martin Petchey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of what the author describes as the great english art form - the landscape garden - before the work of its most famous practitioner, Capability Brown, told through the lives of the individuals who owned , built and designed gardens. A little too prolix sometimes and lacking extensive illustrations, which made it difficult to envisage some of the gardens, but in the end I knew much more about landscape gardens, especially the surprising fact that they could have political and social meanings and messages way beyond the purely aesthetic, and have been inspired to visit and revisit those most close.