"This warm-hearted and straightforwardly written book traces the history of the Japanese garden from its beginnings more than two thousand years ago down to the modern age, pausing along the way for leisurely looks at such celebrated gardens as those of the Phoenix Hall, the Golden Pavilion, the Silver Pavilion, the Ryoan-ji, the Katsura and Shugaku-in imperial villas, the Sento Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle, and the Meiji Shrine, as well as numerous...