ROYAL GARDENS OF EUROPE

Thematic book with a loosely chronological structure. An introductory chapter shows how royal gardeners have always influenced each other, often sharing designers and craftsmen. Chapters then look at how many royal gardens represented power and influence; royal gardens created chiefly for leisure; the influence of English landscape gardening on royalty in many European countries; royal gardeners who were particularly interested in botany and collecting new plants; 20th-century restorations of formerly important royal gardens; and contemporary royal gardens, often created for privacy rather than show. There is also a directory of gardens, indicating which ones can be visited by the public.