Why have the peoples of the world made pleasure gardens, and why have they made them in such different styles? Here, author Rory Stuart explains how all pleasure gardens derive from one of the world's six great gardening traditions - Italian, Islamic, Chinese, Japanese, English flower garden, and the English park - making them the subject of this book. To create this mammoth resource, Stuart traveled around the world, from Buenos Aires to Vancouver, from Seattle to Cape Cod, from Ireland to India, to China, Japan, and Australia, touring and examining the differences in garden styles. Now he explains them here, abetted by beautiful full-color photos, approaching pleasure gardens as works of art and placing them in their historical and cultural context.