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Category: Architecture, Homes & Gardens

October 5, 2021

The Story of the Country House by Clive Aslet

Reviewed by Harriet My definition of the country house is this: a work of domestic architecture in a rural location, surrounded by its own…

August 31, 2021

A Room of Her Own: Inside the Homes and Lives of Creative Women by Robyn Lea

Review by Liz Dexter Robyn Lea has a theory that there is a new Renaissance happening among creative women, who are expressing themselves and…

August 10, 2021

A Tomb With a View by Peter Ross

Reviewed by Gill Davies Just a few days ago my partner and fellow Shiny reviewer Basil Ransome Davies found a new walk to do…

May 6, 2021

In the Garden; Essays on Nature and Growing

Review by Hayley Anderton This is the first of the Daunt Books essay collections that I’ve read and I’m mostly impressed. The quality of…

December 1, 2020

Follies: An Architectural Journey by Rory Fraser

Reviewed by Liz Dexter A delightful little book put out by a relatively new publisher founded in 2017 with a rather intriguing list, this…

March 10, 2020

The Author’s Effects by Nicola J. Watson

Reviewed by Harriet This splendid and fascinating book – subtitled ‘On Writer’s House Museums’ – has been a long time in the making, and…

February 27, 2020

Square Haunting by Francesca Wade

Review by Karen Langley “Square Haunting” was published to much fanfare and acclaim recently; a book which looks at the lives of five notable…

futurekind design people rob phillips
September 17, 2019

Futurekind: Design by and for the People by Robert Phillips

Review by Liz Dexter Robert Phillips is a senior tutor on the Design Products course at the Royal College of Art, as well as…

Walter Gropius: Visionary Founder of the Bauhaus by Fiona MacCarthy
April 2, 2019

Walter Gropius: Visionary Founder of the Bauhaus by Fiona MacCarthy

Review by Rob Spence It probably doesn’t occur to many people as they struggle to fix bolt B to batten F of the Ikea…

January 22, 2019

The Adventures of Owen Hatherley in the Post-Soviet Space by Owen Hatherley

Review by Karen Langley Author Owen Hatherley has carved out a niche for himself as one of the UK’s foremost commentators on matters architectural…

August 23, 2016

The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood

Reviewed by Harriet This gorgeous book is subtitled ‘Life in the English Country House Between the Wars’, and certainly that is part of its…

Ethelind Fearon
April 16, 2015

The Reluctant Hostess by Ethelind Fearon

Reviewed by Simon I have a definite weakness for spoof etiquette guides and the like – such as Bed Manners, reviewed in the third issue…

January 21, 2015

Nairn’s London by Ian Nairn

Reviewed by Karen Langley Ian Nairn was a regular TV presence in the 1960s and 1970s, but faded out of view towards the end…

January 15, 2015

The Great Indoors by Ben Highmore

Reviewed by Simon If, like me, you have spent many hours of your life watching TV programmes about how to build, renovate, sell, or…

The Making of Home by Judith Flanders
October 28, 2014

The Making of Home by Judith Flanders

Reviewed by Harriet  One of the most important distinctions made by Judith Flanders in this fascinating book is that between the concepts of house…

October 16, 2014

The Gardens at Brantwood: Evolution of John Ruskin’s Lakeland Paradise by David Ingram

Reviewed by Barb Scharf. “It comes as something of a surprise to most people to consider Ruskin the Gardener. Ruskin has been much written…

October 13, 2014

The Hermit in the Garden: From Imperial Rome to Ornamental Gnome by Gordon Campbell

Reviewed by Barb Scharf If you were a member of the English aristocracy residing in Shropshire in the Georgian era, late 1700s to early…

October 9, 2014

Herbaceous by Paul Evans

Reviewed by Barb Scharf HERBACEOUS adj resembling or having the nature of herbs (any non-woody seed-bearing plant which dies down to the ground after…

April 30, 2014

Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurst by Vita Sackville-West & Sarah Raven

Reviewed by Rachel Fenn Sissinghurst is the sort of place that you can’t help but fall in love with at first sight, even if…

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