by Adam Nicholson. This book is a treasure for Anglophiles. In addition to a detailed history of the Sissinghurst estate, bought by Bloomsbury writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicolson, in 1930, the author provides an extensive history of the county of Kent, home to the estate and its extensive farmlands, all of which were turned over, after much negotiation, to the National Trust in the 1960s after Sackville-West's death. The author, a grandson of Vita and Harold, has dedicated much of his life to restoring Sissinghurst. Its famous gardens are open to the public, including the vegetable garden that provides a good deal of the food served in the restaurant on the premises. Sissinghurst's current fame results largely from the author's devotion to its restoration, with the resurrection of a productive, working farm there. He credits his grandmother with the beauty of the gardens, as she was "greater as a gardener than as a poet." VERDICT This is both a wonderful landscape and property history and a warm family history, taking the book beyond being only about the restoration and popularity of Sissinghurst. Perfect for studying a slice of rural English history, for lovers of gardening and farming memoirs, and for readers of English country-house studies. --Library Journal
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