Customer Reviews

Italian Gardens: A Guide

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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.

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 !

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.