Italian Gardens: A Guide [Paperback]

Helena Attlee (Author), Alex Ramsay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001

Enjoyed for centuries by visitors from around the globe, the famous and not-so-famous gardens of Italy fill this extensive guide.

Examples span more than five hundred years, and range from Moorish-style gardens of the thirteenth century to the Boboli in Florence, and other gardens great Renaissance artists and histories and full descriptions, the guide gives travelers locations, facilities, hours, and accessibility.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Helena Attlee works as an editor and as a journalist writing on gardens and garden history. Her work has appeared in a number of leading magazines and she has spent several years living and working in Italy. Alex Ramsay also writes on garden history and is well-known as a photographer of houses and gardens. His work is widely published in the UK and abroad.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ellipsis London Pr Ltd; 2nd edition (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899858539
• ISBN-13: 978-1899858538
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,556,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't let the small format fool you, May 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Italian Gardens: A Guide (Paperback)

At first glance, the small format of this book (only 3 x 4 inches, appx.) might lead you to forget about it. Don't make that mistake. Ramsay & Attlee have provided much more information about the history and features of the Italian Gardens than can be found in the "rival" Garden Lovers Guide to Italy by Hobhouse. Little of their material is new, but in compiling the best facts & anecdotes from Wharton, Masson, Lazzaro, et al., Ramsey & Attlee have written the book which I would be most likely to take along with me as a guide to the gardens. The one main fault of the volume is that by devoting more space to each gardens, the number of gardens covered has been reduced. For example, at Lago Maggiore, the Isola Bella is covered, but the Isola Madre is not. Probably the best thing to do if one is going off on a garden tour of Italy is to read Edith Wharton and Claudia Lazzaro before you go, and then to take both Ramsay & Attlee's book and Hobhouse's Guide along on the journey.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I miss my companion !, July 4, 2002

By 

Mrs. Avril W. Ashworth "wendyash" (Surrey, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Italian Gardens: A Guide (Paperback)

On a recent visit to Italy I went prepared with Penelope Hobhouse Edith Wharton and Helena Ramsay and it was not until I loaned the latter out that I realised how useful it is as you try and find your way around the hazards of being a garden addict in that country !!
(Reviewed at length on the u k site)
I endorse nearly everything that the previous writer says but would like to add how practical it is as the directions to the gardens are not easily found in any other guide or Tourist Office.

I'd be very happy to have it back !

4.0 out of 5 stars Good things come in small packages, March 8, 2008

By 

Lupo Montegrigio (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Italian Gardens: A Guide (Paperback)

It's hard to grade this book. It's really small, it's hard to read the small print. But then, the amount of information presented is almost staggering for such a small book. The pictures are few and not always as representative of the garden as they could have been. I would have liked to seen another 5-10 gardens. Marche is left out, a mistake not uncommon in garden literature but unforgivable. Still, it's amazing what a lot of information you'll find on these minuscule pages.