- England
- Scotland
- France
- Holland
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- Portugal
- USA
- China
- Japan
- India
- Iran
- Advice
- Gardens
- England
- Scotland
- France
- Holland
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- Portugal
- USA
- China
- Japan
- India
- Iran
- Advice
- Garden Tours
The cousins dramatic journeys take them through Napoleonic Europe and British India. One holds firm to his Christian faith. The other, a man of reason, questions everything. Rooted in fact and expanded through fiction, thw story explores how faith, reason, and morality shaped two extraordinary lives during an era of Enlightenment, Romanticism and War. In dangerous times they use every available means of travel: on foot and by, donkeys, horses, carriages, sailing ships, palanquins, elephants, steamers and railways. Yet both are almost forgotten. Why?
Famous people mentioned in the book:
Key places in the cousins lives and travels:
One reason for Loudon not being as well-known as he deserves is that he wrote about 50 million words. This is believed to be more than any man who lived before him. At 12 hours/day they would take about 40 weeks to read. The record is now about 100 million words. By way of comparison, The Claudians is 126,000 words. The Claudians print length is 413 pages.
See details of other books and articles by TomTurner.
Tom Turner is a writer who has spent 50 years travelling in the lands the Claudian Cousins visited. He used air, rail, car and a folding bike instead of horses, carriages, sailing ships, steamers and elephants. Sharing their enthusiasm for gardens, landscapes, philosophy and religions, Tom is fascinated by the details of their travels, their motivations and their experiences.
John Claudius Loudon wrote some 50 million words, equivalent to 70 bibles. At the time of his death this was probably the most words ever written by one man. Like his friend, Jeremy Bentham, Loudon was devoted to the public interest. He did not say why. But, Tom believes, much can be learned from the life of his missionary cousin, Claudius Buchanan. Their mothers, who were half-sisters, agreed that their elder sons were remarkably similar. Both were named after their grandfather whose first name they shared. Claudius Somers was active in a famous religious event: the Cambuslang Awakening. Like the Pilgrim Fathers, their heritage was Calvinist; they wanted a better world. Buchanan became an Aglican but kept his faith. His cousin became sceptical. Both died young and in consequence of their travels.
Loudon married Jane Webb. She is famous as a gardening author and as a pioneer of sci-fi, her books now commanding higher prices than her husband’s. She wrote that ‘I have often wondered that on his return home he did not publish his travels; as the Continent was then, comparatively, so little known, that a narrative of what he saw, illustrated by his sketches, would have been highly interesting.’ Tom agrees, and regrets that despite having John’s copious travel notes, she did not write it for him. Their talented daughter, Agnes, might also have written the book. But they didn’t. So Tom has done the job for them.
 |
John Claudius Loudon was the most erudite, prolific and witty author on gardens, landscapes and architecture in the 19th century |
| Claudius Buchanan was a leading campaigner for education and agains widow-burning in India | |
| Jane Webb Loudon was a pioneer of SciFi writing and a prolific author of garden flowers | |
| Tom Turner is an admirer of the Claudians and writes on garden design history, landscape architecture and urban design |
