The Hidden Horticulturists: The Untold Story of the Men who Shaped Britain’s Gardens

Delightful... The Hidden Horticulturists pulsates with the extraordinary energy and excitement of the time. * Daily Mail * The chance discovery by the author, the RHS's chief librarian, of a notebook led to this excellent page-turner. * 'Top Ten Gardening Books of the Year', Sunday Telegraph * This book by the head librarian of the RHS is a cracker... A highly original piece of research into the lives of jobbing gardeners in the early 19th century, with plenty of fascinating social background. -- Tim Richardson * Gardens Illustrated * The rise and progress of the Victorian head gardener is a tale of ever-increasing professionalism in a developing world of technological progress, artistic revolution and endless plant novelties... It's time their story was told. * Country Life * The story of a cadre of promising young men who qualified as gardeners in the early 19th century... What is refreshing is that nearly all the names unearthed will be unfamiliar, even to garden historians... Davison has conducted deep research into the later careers of most of these gardeners, discovering what happened to them after they left Chiswick. The result is a revealing insight into the lives of aspiring working men in this period. * Literary Review *