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A Thing in Disguise: The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton
 
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A Thing in Disguise: The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton (Paperback)

by Kate Colquhoun (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Customers buy this book with Strange Blooms: The Curious Lives and Adventures of the John Tradescants by Jennifer Potter

A Thing in Disguise: The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton + Strange Blooms: The Curious Lives and Adventures of the John Tradescants
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Product details

  • Paperback: 338 pages
  • Publisher: HarperPerennial; New edition edition (4 May 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007143540
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007143542
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 268,136 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Energetic, irresistible, a marvellously invigorating tale.' Francis Wheen, Observer Books of the Year. 'A superb biography ! Colquhoun's elegantly illustrated, admirably succinct biography is written with true Paxtonian verve. Praise comes no higher.'John Carey, Sunday Times 'Colquhoun's picture is affectionate, thorough and compulsively readable.' Observer 'Kate Colquhoun should have a bestseller on her hands.' Cressida Connolly, Saturday Telegraph 'Kate Colquhoun has written an exemplary life of this important and attractive personality. Hopefully this is the first of many.' Aileen Reid, Sunday Telegraph 'Colquhoun's sympathetic biography is at its most revealing (indeed, its most moving) in its analysis of the friendship between duke and gardener, two like minds meeting despite the barriers of class and convention.' Sunday Times

Aileen Reid, Books of the Year 2003, Sunday Telegraph

'If a better biography was published this year, I didn't read it.'
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A Thing in Disguise: The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton 4.0 out of 5 stars (3)
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Coming from a Different Angle, 16 Jan 2006
By Geoffrey Pollock "geoffeagle" (Gloucestershire UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I am not a horticulturist and had the book bought for me as a Christmas present from a brother. I am however from the Crystal Palace area, my parents saw the Palace fire from their home and I am a fan of the football team (stamped on my forehead at birth!).

The book is a delight and is an excellent insight to the Victorian era and most particularly the Victorian entrenpreneurs as in essence that is exactly what Paxton was with his publishing, public park design company, financial investments into new fangled railway lines, and his self promotion.

Further the details on Chatsworth and his relationship with the Duke of Devonshire were both detailed and again of great interest regarding the Victorian psyche of master and servant (and also how each treated thier womenfolk!). It is interesting to note Paxton had a son who went off the rails with debauchery and drink (plus ca change!).

Highly commended to horticultursts and those interested in social history and most importantly to those who just like a good read.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly readable, 22 Jan 2005
By Rebecca Tait "Zagley" (Brighton, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I wanted this book because I'm a trainee garden designer but also because it holds local interest for me as I spend a lot of time in Crystal Palace - and Joseph Paxton designed the original Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. I have to confess I found the first chapter or so a little tough - I didn't feel that the facts and dates gelled properly but after that I became throughly addicted. if your training in the horticultural sector this is a must - it's written so well that it's a delight and it makes a (perhaps for some) dry subject jump out of the page. I recommend this title
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The hardest working man in Victorian England, 2 Aug 2008
By Mr. P. J. Brown "hermesbooksamazon" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is one of those rare but exciting biographies that reads like a novel and is gripping all the way through. Kate Colquhoun really knows her material and the diversions always add to the story.

Faults are that it reads like hagiography at times and even by Victorian standards Paxton treated his family appallingly and reaped what he sowed in his wayward son.

But for the story of the design of the Crystal Palace and the foundations of modern horticulture, this can't be beaten.
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