Morocco: Courtyards and Gardens

Oh dear, oh dear - why do I buy books like this! It is so gorgeous that I want to re-vamp my entire garden right now so I can transpose some of this beauty to my home in Australia. In fact I have started, but my back and knees are a dead giveaway - I'm not young enough to do it, nor old enough to shame my sons into doing it. Still, using some of the ideas here, I have made some relatively simple changes to our deck and garden to reflect the Moroccan style and am very happy with them.If loving gardens were a sin, I'd go straight to hell. Gardeners have their likes and dislikes but I'd challenge any gardener not to find someting to take their fancy in this book. As for non-gardeners, well, just buy it anyway, because the plates and text are so, so good. To paraphrase Omar Khayyam: " . . . a cup of tea, a book about Moroccan gardens . . . and gardens are Paradise enow".

I bought this book among other 2 books of the same category, which depict the marvelous architecture and arid nature of Morocco. A country that has caught my interest after I visited last year Spain, where I witnessed the impressive Moorish architecture.By comparison to the other two books I must note that this one in particular offers quite detailed written information, although I happen to care less for the informative part but rather the imagery contrast. When I buy books of the type I but them for their images not for the text, and images don't miss here either. The book also concentrates on the landscape of the country. There are quite many interesting images to view, although in my opinion, some of them lack technical precision as the images appear a little grainy and/or slightly out of focus.

I was taken by the gorgeous cover photo of this book, but unfortunately the rest of the book's photos are extremely grainy - they were obviously taken with a cheap, compact camera. With all of the beautifully printed books available today, it was disappointing to spend quite a bit for this one only to find it was poorly produced. However, the text is interesting and informative. So, if you're interested in scholarly information about Moroccan climate, landscape and courtyard design, this book will be of interest. However, if you're looking for pretty pictures, this book will not make you happy.

Content good but very disappointed in the cover. As a designer, i love to display my books. The cover was so dull and shades of brown so, dreary.

Loved it/

This is a beautiful illustrated book about rural Morocco. It is not exclusively about Moroccan courtyards and gardens. Many illustrations are of the Moroccan countryside within the context of deprivation of resources, poverty and faded grandeur. It is page 50 before the first illustration of a courtyard (in Fez). And there is one chapter titled Courtyard Gardens, which is two pages long and has one illustration. There are no illustrations of private courtyards and gardens, many illustrations are of mosque or palace gardens. I admit I was looking for a book that would help me create a Moroccan themed courtyard garden, and this was not it.