Garden History Philosophy and Design 2000 BC – 2000 AD

In the past several decades the popularity of garden design and garden history has exploded. Books on the subject are instant bestsellers and there are entire television channels devoted to the subject. Dumbarton Oaks and Middleton Park in America, the Taj Mahal in India, Versailles in France and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are just a few of the famous gardens instantly recognized worldwide. In Garden History, author Tom Turner explores more than 150 gardens spanning 40 centuries of western garden design, beginning in Egypt and West Asia moving northward to Europe and ending in the Americas. Garden History takes us on a grand tour of gardens, garden design and the reasons for making gardens throughout the centuries.

An updated version of this book is now available as European Gardens (2011), also by Tom Turner.  Expanding into other regions are Asian Gardens (2010) and the forthcoming British Gardens, both also by Turner and published by Routledge.

Tom Turner, well-known teacher and writer in landscape architecture, garden design and garden history here explores more than 150 gardens over four millennia of Western garden design. He considers the why, the what, the how and the where of garden design by tracing the development of gardens through history and across social, political and philosophical boundaries. Fully illustrated throughout, each chapter critically examines a particular type of garden both as part of a wider socio-political context and as an aesthetic entity, asking how the design of each garden reflects the philosophical approach of its creator. Inspirational, reflective and informative, this book brings together knowledge and understanding from a diverse range of related interests to add depth and breadth to a fascinating subject.

1. Design Philosophy  2. Ancient Gardens 2000BC-1000BC  3. Classical Gardens 1400BC-600AD  4. West Asian and Islamic Gardens 500BC-1700AD  5. Medieval Gardens 600AD-1500AD  6. Renaissance Gardens 1350-1650  7. Baroque Gardens 1600-1750  8. Neoclassical and Romantic Gardens 1700-1810  9. Eclectic Gardens 1800-1900  10. Abstract and Post-Abstract Gardens 1900-2000

Tom Turner has won awards from the UK Landscape Institute (for City as Landscape, Spon Press, 1996) and from the American Society of Landscape Architects (for The Garden History Reference Encyclopedia CD). He teaches on the undergraduate and masters programmes in garden history and landscape architecture at the University of Greenwich in London.

Tom Turner, a well-know teacher and writer in landscape architecture and gardens, reviews the historic styles of garden design, tracing the development of gardens through 40 centuries. His account is based on 35 years of visiting gardens, investigating their histories, taking photographs, drawing plans and analysing styles.