Author:Jane Brown
Lancelot Brown changed the face of eighteenth-century England, designing country estates and mansions, moving hills and making flowing lakes and serpentine rivers, a magical world of green. This English landscape style spread across Europe and the world. At home, it proved so pleasing that Brown's influence spread into the lowland landscape at large, and into landscape painting. He stands behind our vision, and fantasy, of rural England.
In this vivid, lively biography, based on detailed research, Jane Brown paints an unforgettable picture of the man, his work, his happy domestic life, and his crowded world. She follows the life of the jovial yet elusive Mr Brown, from his childhood and apprenticeship in rural Northumberland, through his formative years at Stowe, the most famous garden of the day.
His innovative ideas, and his affable and generous nature, led to a meteoric rise to a Royal Appointment in 1764 and his clients and friends ranged from statesmen like the elder Pitt to artists and actors like David Garrick. Riding constantly across England, Brown never ceased working until he collapsed and died in February 1783 after visiting one of his oldest clients. He was a practical man but also a visionary, always willing to try something new. As this beautifully illustrated biography shows, Brown filled England with enchantment - follies, cascades, lakes, bridges, ornaments, monuments, meadows and woods - creating views that still delight us today.
Brown's book is a good read
—— Jane Owen , Financial TimesJane Brown has dug deep into the archives and has written an exhaustive and beautifully illustrated biography that has been long overdue... Those who love his gardens...will be delighted with this book
—— Andrea Wulf , Mail on SundayRobust and revealing
—— IndependentHer book should find a home in any garden-lovers' glove compartment , offering a detailed map of Lancelot's England
—— SpectatorSympathetic, beautifully illustrated study
—— Maggie Fergusson , Intelligent LifeThis remarkably exhaustive survey is full of intricacies - physical and psychological, financial and geographical. For lovers of abundantly detailed biographies, this tome will not disappoint
—— Claire Masset , English GardenRevealing the backstory of our best-loved landscapes will open many, newly appreciative, eyes
—— Stephanie Cross , The LadyThis informative biography shows [Lancelot Brown's[ achievements were, like the man himself, full of charm
—— Waterstone's Books QuarterlyBrown's meticulous research and almost scholarly approach to the subject in hand means the reader is treated to an in-depth look at the man
—— Press AssociationThe Omnipotent Magician is a valuable work of reference
—— Anthony Gardner , The TabletClose attention to detail and brisk and vigorous prose
—— Times Literary SupplementWhere this book excels is in the writers' impressive untangling of the web of family interconnections betweens Brown's patrons
—— Timothy Mowl , Times Higher Educational SupplementA worthwhile account of the designer of choice for the wealthy late-18th-century landowner
—— Caroline Donald , Sunday Times, Books of the YearEngaging
—— Good Book GuideIn her exhaustive biography, Jane Brown leads us from Brown’s modest beginnings… to his fatal collapse in a Piccadilly street…Her strength is to show, by carefully extrapolating associations and commissions, how Lancelot’s star rose and rose in the crowded firmament of eighteenth-century society
—— Adrian Brewer , The TabletA charismatic, dazzling piece of work that has the feel of a future classic. Shadows at Noon is remarkably rich and full of life, packed with insights conveyed through beautifully moving storytelling. A unique and vital book, it is at once incredibly informative, profound and very readable - a genuine page-turner
—— Dr Edward AndersonBoth erudite and intimate, Chatterji narrates how South Asia in the twentieth century produced democracy and authoritarianism, inclusion and violent exclusion, all at the same time, explaining our present as well as giving us an account of the past
—— Professor Durba GhoshA tour de force of contemporary history of the Indian subcontinent. Its masterly analysis of the big picture - nationalisms, citizenship and the State - sets the stage for its innovative focus on ordinary people and their lives. A brilliant, wonderful read
—— Professor Deepak NayyarThis book's promise to deliver a 'people-centred history' of South Asia over the twentieth century is no small task. Chatterji's epic work meanders across this huge terrain, taking a series of imaginative angles such as the histories of the household, music, film and food, as well as many others. Combining scholarly rigour with a spontaneous tone and autobiographical style, this is a courageous and captivating work
—— Professor Justin JonesA historical epic in prose - masterly, original, provocative - and, yes, compellingly readable
—— India Today[A] bold, innovative and personal work rallies against standard narratives of ‘inherent’ differences between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and reveals the many things its people have in common
—— Asian Art Newspaper, *Books of the Year*This extraordinary book exposes how various sides in the Petain debate have manipulated the historical record in a desperate attempt to make the past palatable.
—— Gerard DeGroot , The Times, Books of the YearJulian Jackson’s France on Trial grapples with the life and (mis)deeds of Philippe Pétain—the French general who led the Vichy regime during the Second World War—and the country’s dark feelings of hatred and guilt after the war.
—— Prospect Books of the YearSuperb, totally fascinating and compelling, Katja Hoyer's first full history of East Germany's rise and fall is a work of revelatory original research - and a gripping read with a brilliant cast of characters. Essential reading
—— Simon Sebag MontefioreA beyond-brilliant new picture of the rise and fall of the East German state. Katja Hoyer gives us not only pin-sharp historical analysis, but an up-close and personal view of both key characters and ordinary citizens whose lives charted some of the darkest hours of the Cold War. If you thought you knew the history of East Germany, think again. An utterly riveting read
—— Julie EtchinghamA fantastic, sparkling book, filled with insights not only about East Germany but about the Cold War, Europe and the forging of the 20th and 21st centuries
—— Peter FrankopanThe joke has it that the duty of the last East German to escape from the country was to turn off the lights. In Beyond the Wall Katja Hoyer turns the light back on and gives us the best kind of history: frank, vivid, nuanced and filled with interesting people
—— Ivan KrastevA refreshing and eye-opening book on a country that is routinely reduced to cartoonish cliché. Beyond the Wall is a tribute to the ordinary East Germans who built themselves a society that - for a time - worked for them, a society carved out of a state founded in the horrors of Nazism and Stalinism
—— Owen HatherleyA colourful and often revelatory re-appraisal of one of modern history's most fascinating political curiosities. Katja Hoyer skilfully weaves diverse political and private lives together, from the communist elite to ordinary East Germans
—— Frederick TaylorKatja Hoyer is becoming the authoritative voice in the English speaking world for all things German. Thanks to her, German history has the prominence in the Anglosphere it certainly deserves.
—— Dan SnowKatja Hoyer brilliantly shows that the history of East Germany was a significant chapter of German history, not just a footnote to it or a copy of the Soviet Union. To understand Germany today we have to grapple with the history and legacy of its all but dismissed East
—— Serhii PlokhyKatja Hoyer's return to discover what happened to her homeland - the old East Germany - is an excellent counterpoint to Stasiland by Anna Funder
—— Iain Macgregor