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Hedge Britannia, paperback
£8.95
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Hedge Britannia is a portrait of the nation unlike any other. It is a tale of how agricultural and gardening traditions came to the British Isles, and of how our ideas of territory, neighbours and boundaries came to define town and country alike. Over the centuries we have proved ourselves to be a nation of ardent hedge-growers and this has shaped the landscape we know today. From rolling acres to suburban plots, nothing would be quite the same if the hedge had not made its appearance. It was the arrival of hedges that turned the forests and open pastures of our ancestors into a land of segregated fields, twisting hedgerows, enclosed gardens and, eventually, over-the-top topiary, decorative borders and controversial leylandii. Hugh Barker, a hedge enthusiast, has journeyed across Britain to explore its remarkable variety of gardens and hedgerows. Over the course of his travels he discovers how hedges are among our most ancient monuments, meets hedgelaying champions and topiary fanatics, and sees the lengths to which some people will go to annoy the neighbours. Along the way he tells 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, anecdotal and just a little eccentric, this is a sweeping history of Britain as you’ve never seen it before.
Paperback
327 pages
9781408831120
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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 *
Author Biography
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.Related products
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