When sorting through my books a few weeks ago I came across this rather battered little book by Althea.  It has beautiful illustrations and is quite detailed considering that it is a book aimed at children.

 The age of the book is given away by the price - just 20p.  The books were sold in National Trust shops - I suspect the book was probably a reward for behaving during a visit to a stately home.

I remember that I loved this book as a small child and I wonder if it was one of the things that inspired my career as a landscape architect.  Rather precociously I decided on my career at 14, as it combined my love of plants with my love of design.

The topic of books that inspired a life long interest, and a love of history in particular, was covered by the wonderful Lucy Inglis in a blog post on her site Georgian London.  The discussion continues in the comments section and was also taken up by the very entertaining Gentleman Administrator