There are few landscapes in the western world more bewitching than the mountain glens of the Scottish Highlands and the scattered islands of the Hebrides. From its bleak mountains to its flower-filled meadows, from savage sea-cliffs to pure white beaches, it has inspired an equally varied oral heritage. There are the works of gentle scholar saints, epic tales of murderous clan rivalry, Norse legends of monsters and unsubdued spirits and the romantic tale of how an exiled prince came back to rescue his land and crown, though his defeat brought ruin to this ancient culture. More recently, it is the landscape and its animal inhabitants that have inspired some of the greatest of the poems captured here by Mary Miers, whose feel for the spirit of the Highlands and islands is unerring. She combines the sensibility of a native from the island of South Uist with the eye of a travelling scholar of architecture. Small books that open our vast landscapes of the mind.

"The English Country House" takes a look at the architecture and interiors of sixty-two stunning houses in a range of architectural styles spanning seven centuries--from the medieval Stokesay Castle to the newly built, Lutyens-inspired Corfe Farm--brought to life through the world-renowned photography library of "Country Life." More than four hundred color and black and white illustrations provide an insight into the architecture, decoration, gardens, and landscape settings of these houses, which are set into their architectural and historical context by the accompanying text and extended captions.
The book provides an "entree "into the houses to which "Country Life "has had privileged access over the years, many of which are still private homes, often occupied by descendants of the families that built them. Punctuating the book at intervals in the form of booklets on rich, uncoated paper are six essays by leading British architectural historians that set the English country house into its social context and chart the changing tastes in decorating and collecting, the development of ancillary buildings, gardens and landscapes, and finally, its influence in the United States.

Verdant, heart shaped leaves fragrant with white flower blossoms were drooping heavily from the Linden tree. The fragrant aroma from it's flowers wafted lazily through the air; making it seem as though I was drinking in creation at it's fullest. The awesome Linden tree truly appeared vibrantly green brimming with life and activity, as I listened to the humming, whirring sounds of millions of buzzing bees. Thus, it revealed itself as truly being a tree of life