This illustrated reference covers the history and design of gardens all over the world, from the earliest recorded examples to the present day

Now available for the first time in paperback, the magnificent Oxford Companion to the Garden illuminates the history and design of gardens all over the world, from the earliest recorded known examples to the present day, encompassing everything from small private gardens, to the secret gardens of Arab princes, to the vast public park at Versailles. With hundreds of photographs and illustrations, the book's broad sweep make it the perfect reference for garden-lovers everywhere, offering in 1,750 alphabetical entries wide-ranging coverage that sheds light on virtually every aspect of the topic. The writing is authoritative and engaging and there are sumptuous color photographs by some of the world's best garden photographers as well as elegant engravings of historical subjects. Well over half of the entries are devoted to individual gardens, many of them open to the public. These include every kind of garden from palace gardens to botanic gardens and arboreta, late 20th-century land art, and contemporary gardens everywhere. The volume also provides biographies of garden designers, nurserymen, and others, entries on the worlds of horticulture and plant science, and articles that range from garden elements and styles to scientific issues and social history. Central to the book are the garden cultures of Italy, Britain, France, China, Japan, and the USA, but the coverage is worldwide, including such far-flung regions as Turkey, Peru, and Bali. The contributors include leading authorities and top garden writers from more than 25 countries. Many of their entries include suggestions for further reading and the work's usefulness is further enhanced by a general bibliography, a thematic listing of contents, and an index of gardens, individuals, themes, and features. "Put plainly, this doorstop of a reference book is worth its weight in gold." --The Los Angeles Times "The perfect guide for anyone who wants to learn in an entertaining way about magnificent classical to contemporary gardens of the world.... Can be displayed on your coffee table." --The Washington Post "Liberally sprinkled with handsome full color photographs that catch the spirit of the individual landscapes." --National Gardener "A word of warning--there's no quick escape from this marvelous book." --Hugh Johnson

Australia has an enormously rich heritage of gardens and gardening and there has never before been a reference work of this scale with this diversity covering this wide-ranging subject. Ten years in the making, The (Oxford) Companion to Australian Gardens covers all aspects of Australiangardening from Aboriginal land management practices to modern garden design.Interest in gardening and garden design has increased over the last few years. The aim of the Companion is to further the understanding of gardens and gardening and provide a useful reference tool for anyone with an interest in gardens, landscape gardening, art, and architecture.With around 400 entries, the text covers topics such as designed landscapes, agriculture, architecture, art, botany, ecology, forestry, horticulture, landscape architecture, town planning, and viticulture.With the help of their team of over 200 expert contributors, Richard Aitken and Michael Looker have produced an authoritative and comprehensive reference work. The main text is lavishly illustrated and many of the illustrations have never before been published.This is a must-have reference work for anyone working in or studying garden design or landscape design, particularly those who have an international interest in the subject.

Offering a panoramic view of the history and culture of food and drink in America with fascinating entries on everything from the smell of asparagus to the history of White Castle, and the origin of Bloody Marys to jambalaya, the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink provides a concise, authoritative, and exuberant look at this modern American obsession. Ideal for the food scholar and food enthusiast alike, it is equally appetizing for anyone fascinated by Americana, capturing our culture and history through what we love most--food!Building on the highly praised and deliciously browseable two-volume compendium the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, this new work serves up everything you could ever want to know about American consumables and their impact on popular culture and the culinary world. Within its pages for example, we learn that Lifesavers candy owes its success to the canny marketing idea of placing the original flavor, mint, next to cash registers at bars. Patrons who bought them to mask the smell of alcohol on their breath before heading home soon found they were just as tasty sober and the company began producing other flavors.Edited by Andrew Smith, a writer and lecturer on culinary history, the Companion serves up more than just trivia however, including hundreds of entries on fast food, celebrity chefs, fish, sandwiches, regional and ethnic cuisine, food science, and historical food traditions. It also dispels a few commonly held myths. Veganism, isn't simply the practice of a few "hippies," but is in fact wide-spread among elite athletic circles. Many of the top competitors in the Ironman and Ultramarathon events go even further, avoiding all animal products by following a strictly vegan diet. Anyone hungering to know what our nation has been cooking and eating for the last three centuries should own the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. DT Nearly 1,000 articles on American food and drink, from the curious to the commonplace DT Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of historical photographs and color images DT Includes informative lists of food websites, museums, organizations, and festivals

In this volume that is as big and as varied as the nation it portrays are over 1,400 entries written by some 900 historians and other scholars, illuminating not only America's political, diplomatic, and military history, but also social, cultural, and intellectual trends; science, technology, and medicine; the arts; and religion.

Not a cookbook, but a encyclopedia collection of entries on all things sweet. The articles explore the ways in which our taste for sweetness have shaped-- and been shaped by-- history. In addition, you'll discover the origins of mud pie; who the Sara Lee company was named after; why Walker Smith, Jr. is better known as "Sugar Ray Robinson"; and how lyricists have immortalized sweets from "Blueberry Hill" to "Tutti Fruiti".

World-wide in scope and covering all aspects of film from "AA" certificate and Bud Abbott to Zoom, Zorro and Andre Zvoboda the Companion ranges from silent movies and the beginnings of film to the mid 1970's and includes a wide array of information