PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY

Close Notification

Your cart does not contain any items

Hedge Britannia

A Curious History of a British Obsession

Hugh Barker

$19.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

QTY:

English
Bloomsbury Publishing
01 July 2013
Hedge enthusiast Hugh Barker journeyed across Britain to explore its

remarkable variety of gardens and hedgerows. He discovered how hedges

are among our most ancient monuments, met hedge laying champions and

topiary fanatics, and saw the lengths to which some people will go just to

annoy the neighbours. Hugh explains how the garden hedge became

associated with paradise, why the British army planted a barrier hedge

hundreds of miles long in India, and how the notorious enclosures during

the Industrial Revolution turned the country upside-down. Informative,

revealing and anecdotal, it's a sweeping history of Britain as you've

never seen it before.

By:  
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Publishing
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm,  Spine: 23mm
Weight:   309g
ISBN:   9781408831120
ISBN 10:   1408831120
Pages:   336
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Hugh Barker has been a bookseller, musician, fruit picker, barman, publisher and writer, amongst other things. He currently lives in North London with his wife, daughter and several cats, surrounded by a small hedge that he can call his own.

Reviews for Hedge Britannia: A Curious History of a British Obsession

This delightful, fact-packed book is so compelling it had me craving a pair of telescopic topiary loppers even though I don't own a hedge ... Let's hear it for hedges! Daily Mail [A] quirky, readable book ... On many of its pages Hedge Britannia illuminates a small field of human endeavour that few of us will have ever considered Sunday Times Whether your preference is for hornbeam, viburnum or plain old privet, you'll find much to marvel over here. Shear delight Voyager One fruit in an orchard of idiosyncratic writing Boyd Tonkin, Independent As Hugh Barker observes in his engaging saunter around the subject of hedges and our relationship with them, we are caught up in a struggle with nature, which constantly seeks to return the garden to a state of chaos ... Deploying a nice, easy style, he has woven a good deal of interesting and important information into a pleasantly discursive narrative that is much enhanced by the wealth of hedge pictures Literary Review Genuinely eccentric but lively and informative, Baker moves through the past and present of the great British hedge and comes out looking spruce. He trims his material - from the history of land enclosures to modern suburban lifestyles - into a satisfying shape that even garden-haters can admire Independent This book offers a history of the nation seen in the context of the story of the humble hedge. Well written, informative English Garden


See Also