The Arcadian Friends
Tim Richardson’s history of the English landscape garden, arguing that it was a political and philosophical project as much as an aesthetic one, made by Whig patrons who read their gardens as arguments about liberty. Stowe, Rousham and Stourhead get close readings, and Capability Brown, usually the hero of the story, is treated as the man who flattened much of what came before.
Recommended by 1 Person
Andrea Wulf
For one thing he really knocks Capability Brown off his green throne. It really is inexplicable how Brown has become the hero of British landscape garden when, in fact, he destroyed quite a lot of landscapes. He must have been a very good promoter of the services he provided in order to achieve that status. So I adore the book for its relentless demolition of Capability Brown, because he really annoys me so much.
Interview · December 2010
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