Works of this stature and interest appear at rare intervals and this indeed is an eagerly anticipated moment and an achievement to savour... Mark Laird...marries detailed historical understanding of our garden plants with an empirical knowledge of their use... John Dixon Hunt [ is] an outstanding scholar with wide interests, a firm institutional base, and one whose whole energy is focussed on the promotion of garden history. -- Christina Dyson & Richard Aitken * Australian Garden History * VERDICT A wonderful resource for people interested in landscape architecture or anyone looking for an in-depth exploration of the cultural significance of gardens. -- Susanne Caro, University of Montana Libary, Missoula * Library Journal * This crossdisciplinary set of six books is a much-needed cultural history of Eurocentric garden traditions from ancient times to today, offering readers glimpses into various past worlds and new views of their own [ F]ascinating and informative Although the series primarily addresses itself to landscape architects and garden historians, it will prove rewarding for many others: historians, historians of art and literature, filmmakers, archaeologists, students of environmental history and the built environment, and amateur gardeners. And though analogous chapters across periods do not function identically, in general their complex tasks have been executed with clarity, intelligence, and grace. The project as a whole is well conceived and carried out. -- Mara Miller * Landscape Architecture Magazine *
