Items related to American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park to Our...

American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park to Our Backyards: What Our Gardens Tell Us about Who We Are - Hardcover

 
9780061583421: American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park to Our Backyards: What Our Gardens Tell Us about Who We Are
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
Looks at U.S. history through the lens of the best American gardens over time--from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello up through the present day. 40,000 first printing.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
“Mr. Graham recounts his tale with considerable verve and a vast erudition in the history of gardening and the arts generally.... Among much else, Mr. Graham shows us that the history of how our nation grew can be found in what it has grown.” (John Steele Gordon, Wall Street Journal)

“We are what we plant, L.A.-based writer Wade Graham posits in his history of gardens. When he isn’t explaining the economic and cultural influences, he crafts fascinating profiles.... An engaging look at our own pieces of paradise.” (Ann Herold, Los Angeles Magazine)

“A shrewd, comprehensive and often entertaining guide.... Sure to be a scholarly as well as popular resource for years to come.... And its illustrations and photos tour of some of the world’s most ravishing gardens.” (Tricia Springstubb, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

“The most comprehensive and readable history ever written about the men and women who created the environments in which we now live.... will change the way you look not only at gardens, but also at American history and the hybrid world-part nature, part design-in which we live.” (Charles Donelan, Santa Barbara Independent)
From the Back Cover:

The story of our nation and ourselves—as told through our country's most significant gardens and their creators

From Frederick Law Olmsted to Richard Neutra, Michelle Obama to our neighbors, Americans throughout history have revealed something of themselves—their personalities, desires, and beliefs—in the gardens they create. Rooted in the time and place of their making, as much as in the minds and identities of their makers, gardens mirror the struggles and energies of a changing society. Melding biography, history, and cultural commentary in a one-of-a-kind narrative, American Eden presents a dynamic, sweeping look at this country's landscapes and the visionaries behind them.

Monticello's gardens helped Jefferson reconcile his conflicted feelings about slavery—and take his mind off his increasing debt. Edith Wharton's gardens made her feel more European and superior to her wealthy but insufficiently sophisticated countrymen. Martha Stewart's how-to instructions helped bring Americans back into their gardens, while at the same time stoking and exploiting our anxieties about social class. Isamu Noguchi's and Robert Smithson's experiments reinvigorated the age-old exchange between art and the garden.

American Eden offers an inclusive definition of the garden, considering intentional landscapes that range from domestic kitchen gardens to city parks and national parks, suburban backyards and golf courses, public plazas and Manhattan's High Line park, reclaimed from freight train tracks. And it exposes the overlap between garden-making and painting, literature, and especially architecture—the garden's inseparable sibling—to reveal the deep interconnections between the arts and their most inspired practitioners.

Moving deftly through time and place across America's diverse landscapes—from Revolutionary-era Virginia to turn-of-the-century Chicago to 1960s suburban California—and featuring a diverse cast of landscape-makers—whether artists, architects, or housewives, amateurs or professionals, robber barons, politicians, reformers, or dreamers—Wade Graham vividly unfolds the larger cultural history through more personal dramas.

Beautifully illustrated with color and black-and-white images, American Eden is at once a different kind of garden book and a different kind of American history, one that offers a compelling, untold story—a saga that mirrors and illuminates our nation's invention, and constant reinvention, of itself.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherHarperCollins
  • Publication date2011
  • ISBN 10 0061583421
  • ISBN 13 9780061583421
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages464
  • Rating

Shipping: £ 11.89
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom

Destination, rates & speeds

Add to Basket

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780061583438: American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park to Our Backyards: What Our Gardens Tell Us About Who We Are

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780061583438
Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2013
Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Graham, Wade
Published by Harper (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0061583421-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 21.97
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 11.89
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Graham, Wade
Published by Harper (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Books Unplugged
(Amherst, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Seller Inventory # bk0061583421xvz189zvxnew

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 21.97
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 12.68
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Graham, Wade
Published by Harper (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0061583421

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 18.73
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 22.19
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Graham, Wade
Published by Harper (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0061583421

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 20.90
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 24.17
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Graham, Wade
Published by Harper (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0061583421

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 22.87
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 24.57
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

GRAHAM W.
Published by HARPER COLLINS (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Libreria della Natura
(Milano, Italy)

Book Description LEGATURA EDITORIALE. Condition: NUOVO. Americans throughout history have revealed something of themselves-their personalities, desires, and beliefs-in the gardens they create. Rooted in the time and place of their making, as much as in the minds and identities of their makers, gardens mirror the struggles and energies of a changing society. Melding biography, history, and cultural commentary in a one-of-a-kind narrative, "American Eden" offers a dynamic, sweeping look at this country's landscapes and the visionaries behind them. Monticello's gardens helped Jefferson reconcile his conflicted feelings about slavery-and take his mind off his increasing debt. Edith Wharton's gardens made her feel more European-and superior to her wealthy but insufficiently sophisticated countrymen. Martha Stewart's gardening how-to instructions helped bring Americans back into their gardens, while at the same time stoking and exploiting our age-old anxieties about social class. American Eden moves deftly through time and place across America's diverse landscape-from Revolutionary Virginia to the 19th century Hudson Valley to the Gilded Age; from early Central Park to the Arts and Crafts movement, from the Depression era to 1960s suburban California-illuminating the larger history at hand through more personal dramas. And in every age, we observe how old money and new, established and ascendant social groups reveal themselves in their gardens, essentially providing a map of all these tensions, hopes, dreams, aspirations and contradictions, diagrammed on the ground for all to see. An environmental journalist, garden designer, and American historian, Wade Graham is uniquely positioned to write this book. Beautifully illustrated with both color and black and white images, American Eden is at once a different kind of gardening book, and a different kind of American history, one that offers a compelling, untold story-a saga that mirrors and illuminates our nation's invention, and constant re-invention, of itself. Pagg. 464, cm 18x23, rilegato. Seller Inventory # 9780061583421

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 36.19
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 17.14
From Italy to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Graham, Wade
Published by Harper (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 2.64. Seller Inventory # Q-0061583421

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 47.35
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 34.87
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Graham, Wade
Published by Harper (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
The Book Spot
(Sioux Falls, SD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # Abebooks82375

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 48.17
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 35.67
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Wade Graham,
Published by Harper April 2011 (2011)
ISBN 10: 0061583421 ISBN 13: 9780061583421
New Hardcover Quantity: 2
Seller:
Hennessey + Ingalls
(Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. The story of our nation and ourselves--as told through our country's most significant gardens and their creators From Frederick Law Olmsted to Richard Neutra, Michelle Obama to our neighbors, Americans throughout history have revealed something of themselves--their personalities, desires, and beliefs--in the gardens they create. Rooted in the time and place of their making, as much as in the minds and identities of their makers, gardens mirror the struggles and energies of a changing society. Melding biography, history, and cultural commentary in a one-of-a-kind narrative, 'American Eden' presents a dynamic, sweeping look at this country's landscapes and the visionaries behind them. Monticello's gardens helped Jefferson reconcile his conflicted feelings about slavery--and take his mind off his increasing debt. Edith Wharton's gardens made her feel more European and superior to her wealthy but insufficiently sophisticated countrymen. Martha Stewart's how-to instructions helped bring Americans back into their gardens, while at the same time stoking and exploiting our anxieties about social class. Isamu Noguchi's and Robert Smithson's experiments reinvigorated the age-old exchange between art and the garden. 'American Eden' offers an inclusive definition of the garden, considering intentional landscapes that range from domestic kitchen gardens to city parks and national parks, suburban backyards and golf courses, public plazas and Manhattan's High Line park, reclaimed from freight train tracks. And it exposes the overlap between garden-making and painting, literature, and especially architecture--the garden's inseparable sibling--to reveal the deep interconnections between the arts and their most inspired practitioners. Moving deftly through time and place across America's diverse landscapes--from Revolutionary-era Virginia to turn-of-the-century Chicago to 1960s suburban California--and featuring a diverse cast of landscape-makers--whether artists, architects, or housewives, amateurs or professionals, robber barons, politicians, reformers, or dreamers--Wade Graham vividly unfolds the larger cultural history through more personal dramas. Beautifully illustrated with color and black-and-white images, 'American Eden' is at once a different kind of garden book and a different kind of American history, one that offers a compelling, untold story--a saga that mirrors and illuminates our nation's invention, and constant reinvention, of itself. Graham presents a sweeping social history of our nation's landscapes and the visionaries behind them, which offers an exciting new perspective--from the garden path--on the drama of American self-creation. Seller Inventory # 49448

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 28.57
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 59.44
From U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Destination, rates & speeds