Claudius Buchanan’s promotion of higher education in India led to the foundation of its first degree-awarding university, at Serampore. He also had a significant influence on the campaigns against wife-burning and self-immolation in India. Yet he saw himself as ‘one of the chief sinners.’ Why? John Claudius Loudon advanced through Europe as Napoleon retreated. As well as being a pioneer of landscape architecture he made important contributions to public parks, greenways, greenbelts, arboreta, urban planning and the glass-and-steel architecture of the 20th century. Loudon also invented a style of planting design that has become dominant: the Gardenesque. It uses exotic plants in naturalistic compositions - as Gertrude Jekyll did and as Piet Oudolf does. Yet Loudon is almost forgotten. Why? Jane Wells Webb, who married Loudon, was a pioneer of science fiction writing, But her interest was not in space travel or intergalactic warfare. She dreamed of a ‘Claudian’ ideal world, in which queens, rather than kings, would rule - and in which rivers would be lined with beautiful gardens, open to the public. The Claudians is the story of the cousins' lives and their work. It explores the ideas which motivated them, the details of their travels, the challenges that left them undaunted, their marriages, their achievements and their untimely deaths. From the Claudians Companion Pages you can find out a great deal more about the cousins and buy the book. It's on offer at a 25% discount on pre-orders before December 1st 2024.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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