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

Harper
April 5, 2011 / ISBN: 0061583421
Nonfiction / History / Public Gardens
Amazon

Reviewed by Brenda Weeaks

There are seven chapters in American Eden
Founding Gardens 1600 to 1826; A Walk in the Park 1820 to 1890; Golden Age Modernity 1880 to 1915; Forward to the Past 1850 to 1925; California and the Modern Garden 1920 to 1960s; All our Missing Parts

The author breaks designs up by years as you can see. He doesn't just explore and explain our love of gardens. He fills the book with historical facts, poetry, art, books, politics, architecture, and even music. Readers will discover when garden designs changed, who was responsible, who wrote about it, and how styles reached America. The author also explains the transition of style and design from the high class to the working class. He writes about Victorian, Neo-classical, Modern and more. The author goes from Thomas Jefferson’s home to his own in California in the 60s.

The author praises Michelle Obama's Victory Garden and the Green movement. However George Bush, Martha Stewart, and today's farmers do not sound like his favorite people... I reviewed the advance reader copy with a few black and white picturess and sketches.

American Eden is beautifully written. Wade Graham really out did himself.