The Rothschild family has enjoyed a colorful history over the past two centuries. Their skill as bankers enabled them to make a huge impact on Western social and political history. Yet while dominating the markets, the family has simultaneously expended a tremendous amount of time, energy, and material resources cultivating the landscape.
The family has generated many passionate and knowledgeable gardeners, skillfully creating magnificent parklands and gardens throughout England, Europe, Israel, and elsewhere. Enthusiastic and flamboyant, the Rothschilds have always been fond of showy bedding displays and elaborate topiary, but they have also enjoyed producing fruits and vegetables. Baron Edmond delighted guests at his households in Paris and Boulogne by inviting them to pick fresh fruit—ripe red or black cherries or greengage plums—straight from dwarf trees to the dining room! The fabulous scale of many of their enterprises is hardly imaginable today.
An entertaining and informative text covers Rothschild gardens from their beginnings in the German ghetto to the magnificent parklands of today. Miriam Rothschild, granddaughter of the first Lord Rothschild, explores her family’s greatest estates and gardens as they are and once were, a privileged tour including her own beautiful conservation garden, home to birds, beasts, and butterflies. Archival pictures of many of the gardens and the characters involved accompany Ms. Rothschild’s intimate, amusing look at the competitiveness and drive for perfection that has typified her family’s behavior in gardening, as well as in business. The unique combination of historical and lush, contemporary photography provides a seamlessly integrated tour of both the Rothschild gardens and personalities and will appeal to history and horticulture buffs alike.
Other Details: 133 illustrations, 107 in full color
