Product Description

When Alan left school at fifteen little was expected of him. An ‘O’ level in art is not the most obvious passport to success, but in the ancient greenhouses of the local nursery Mrs T’s little lad found his spiritual home, learning his trade and the strange ways of human nature.

But the comfort and familiarity of his home in the Yorkshire Dales would soon be left behind as he journeyed south to college and then to Kew Gardens where he encountered rare plants collected by Captain Cook and a varied assortment of eccentrics in the world’s most famous garden.

Spells as a teacher and editor followed, until fate took a hand when he landed a job on BBC’s Nationwide as their gardening presenter. His childhood dream of inheriting the mantle of gardening god Percy Thrower was beginning to come true...

From the first faltering steps in radio and television, to a career in broadcasting and writing, Knave of Spades is a wonderfully warm and self-deprecatingly honest memoir. Alan Titchmarsh shows us just why he has become not only our favourite gardener, but a popular writer and broadcaster too.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #474 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-17
• Released on: 2009-09-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Review
'This book is a sheer delight and the humour and wry, self-effacing descriptive energy make it a total page-turner' (Sun )

'Alan Titchmarsh talks about his career with warmth, humour and an enthusiasm that never wanes' (Woman's Weekly )

About the Author
Alan Titchmarsh is known to millions through the popular BBC TV programmes British Isles: A Natural History, How to be a Gardener, Ground Force and Gardeners' World. He has written more than forty gardening books, as well as seven best-selling novels and his first 2 volumes of memoirs Trowel and Error and Nobbut a Lad. He was made MBE in the millennium New Year Honours list and holds the Victoria Medal of Honour, the Royal Horticultural Society's highest award. He lives with his wife and a menagerie of animals in Hampshire where he gardens organically.

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Customer Reviews

Knave of Spades
As always Alan Titchmarsh makes reading a book a wonderful delight. As you read you can hear Alan saying the words to you. He has such a lovely way of expressing things that you can relate to each and every thing he writes about. As yet I have not found any of his books to dislike. They are all great and Knave of Spades is yet another great book by him.

Brilliant read
Naturally written and very interestingly expressed, especially when you are of a similar age and also fond of gardening. A sincerely written book by a down to earth author.

Knave of Spades
The Knave of Spades is up to the usual high standard of writing by Alan Titchmarsh. A very interesting and entertaining book about his life. Can't wait for him to write another book.