DR TOBY MUSGRAVE is one of the UK's leading authorities on garden and plant history. With a degree in horticulture and a PhD in garden history he has for the last twenty years been an independent scholar and consultant, author, lecturer, television and radio presenter and garden designer. Toby's academic knowledge and understanding of global garden history is as broad as it is deep. His special areas of interest are European medieval gardens, Islamic gardens and Eastern gardens. Toby writes for prestigious magazines such as Gardens Illustrated and The Garden and has written eight garden history and garden design titles which have been published in ten languages. The inspiration for Paradise Gardens was an undergraduate course on 'Divine Gardens and Earthly Paradises' which he taught at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. The author is based in Denmark. His previous books include The Plant Hunters (1998), Courtyard Gardens (2001), Cottage Gardens (2004), An Empire of Plants (2012), Heritage Fruits and Vegetables (2012) and The Gardener's Garden (2014).