Product Review

Glorious images of gardens and the words of the immortal Bard of Avon make an enchanting combination in Shakespeare in the Garden. Mick Hales, one of the world’s preeminent landscape photographers, captures unforgettable images of 14 gardens in England, the United States, and Canada, including Shakespeare’s own gardens as well as the three great restorations of major Elizabethan properties by the Dowager Countess of Salisbury. Hale’s accompanying text sets the scene, with notes on the provenance of each exquisite site. There is also an Illustrated Alphabet of Plants, a unique visual document of 80 flowers, herbs, shrubs, and trees that Shakespeare mentions in his plays, each accompanied by a corresponding quotation.

Rare is the illustrated book that can enhance the power of Shakespeare’s poetry, but this one succeeds masterfully.