Landscapes and Desire

Covering five thousand years of landscape architecture, from Stonehenge and Avebury to 18th-century pleasure gardens and modern times, this irreverent, challenging and revealing investigation delves into the diverse history of Britain and Ireland's most stunning sexually inspired landscapes and monuments.

Thousands of people visit West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire each year but few realise that the gardens - created by Sir Francis Dashwood, founder of the Hell-Fire Club - are designed as an erotic tribute to the female form. A statue of Venus surmounts an ample grassy mound, at the base of which a stone facade spreads to either side revealing a narrow oval slit - the entrance to a secret subterranean grotto. some surprising Victorian outbreaks and the 20th century's landscapes of desire, Cathy Tuck shows how the natural cycle of fertility has been a central preoccupation in human monuments, with results that are sometimes awe-inspiring.

Combining the latest research with stunning original photographs by Alun Bull, Landscapes and Desire re-establishes our link to nature and celebrates the joyous affirmation of sex that has moved cold-blooded Britons for five millennia. It will appeal to anyone interested in Britain's natural and architectural heritage.