Helena Attlee is an author
and journalist who has made Italy - and in particular its
gardens - her special subject. Her first book
(Italian Gardens:
a Visitor's Guide) came out in 1988, with award-winning
illustrations by her husband, the photographer
Alex Ramsay. It was reissued in 2000, and has
been widely recognised as being the best available guide
on the market. She gives frequent talks on the subject
and is a visiting lecturer at various institutions,
including Birkbeck College at the University of London.
She regularly leads specialist groups for
Boxwood Tours and has led tours for a number of
different clients, including The Times, the Garden Club
of Seattle, the English Gardening School and the
European Boxwood and Topiary Society. Together with
David Wheeler, editor of the distinguished gardening
journal Hortus, she set up the highly successful
Hortus Tours.
Helena has had articles published in most of the leading
magazines in the UK, including The World of Interiors, House &
Garden and
Country Life.
Her latest book (a cultural
history of the Italian garden) was published in November
2006 by Frances Lincoln - to read reviews or for further
information click here. She has just completed a book about
the gardens of Portugal (publication Spring 2008). She
has also had two new books commissioned, on the gardens
of Wales and on the gardens of Japan.