?The English painter Stanley Spencer (18911959) is perhaps best known for his mystical biblical scenes and candid self-portraits, but it was his magnificent paintings of gardens, houses and landscapes, set in the small alleys and overgrown backyards of his home village of Cookham, which proved more popular during his lifetime. Published to accompany an exhibition at the stately home of Compton Verney, this book is the first to focus specifically on Spencer's landscape paintings, and to consider them as a group, rather than as punctuation marks between the figure paintings.