Close to Paradise : The Gardens of Naples, Capri and the Amalfi Coast

Ravishingly photographed, romantic beyond reason, this book devoted to the most celebrated gardens of southern Italy captures the inexhaustible lure of one of the most beautiful places on earth: Campania, the sun-kissed region that is home to Naples, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. Erstwhile pleasure dome to the Roman emperors, and still Italy's most glamorous seaside getaway, this province has been a top destination for garden appassionati for decades. Bewitched by the natural splendours of the region, author and photographer Robert I.C. Fisher has created a 200-page celebration of twenty-four of southern Italy's finest gardens. In Ravello, the rampageous roses of Villa Cimbrone once warmed the famously chilly heart of Greta Garbo, while off the coast of Positano the private Li Galli islands were the last home of Rudolf Nureyev. In Sorrento, Lord Astor's garden is a monument to English exoticism and on Capri Graham Greene discovered his legendary retreat. Understanding that the potent allure of gardens is not only about plants and species, Fisher also tells the stories of some of the fascinating people who dedicated their lives to creating and nurturing these treasures. The gardens' special magic is captured in lush, mouth-watering photographs, whether it be of turn-of-the-century Sorrento, picture-perfect Positano, medieval Amalfi or island-in-the-sky Ravello. Prepare for enchantment as, through these bougainvillea-bright pages, you visit the garden Shangri-La that is Campania.

Contributor to Town & Country and Art in America, author/photographer Robert I. C. Fisher published his first book, Escape to the Amalfi Coast, in 1999. His love affair with Italy began during graduate studies under Sir John Pope-Hennessy at New York City's Institute of Fine Arts and continues to this day in his job as an editor of travel books, including guides to Rome and Naples.