Investigating the evolution of the Persian paradise garden from its ancient beginnings to today's modern design, Gardens of Persia explores how buildings, water and plants combine to give the gardens of Persia a beauty and spiritual quality, which have inspired garden design throughout time, and in diverse cultures. World-renowned author Penelope Hobhouse begins with the oldest existing garden, Pasargadae, created by Cyrus the Great more than 2,500 years ago. With the coming of Islam, gardens became places for sacred contemplation and spiritual nourishment, and developed in later centuries as settings for romance and, in Mughal India, as symbols of the afterlife. Penelope Hobhouse links the development of these gardens to Persia's great heritage and breathtaking historical architecture. Meticulously researched in Iran and drawn from a profound understanding of gardens throughout the world, this wide-ranging account offers a stimulating new appreciation of gardening. The volume is beautifully illustrated with Jerry Harpur's specially commissioned photographs of gardens in Iran, India, Europe and the United States.