SKU: 8664388331

A Thing in Disguise

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Description

A Thing in DisguiseA brilliantly conceived biography of Joseph Paxton, horticulturist to the Duke & Duchess of Devonshire at Chatsworth, architect of the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and one of the greatest unsung heroes of the Victorian Age In the nineteenth century, which witnessed a revolution in horticulture and urban planning and architecture, Joseph Paxton, a man with no formal education, strode like a colossus. Head gardener at Chatsworth by the

A brilliantly conceived biography of Joseph Paxton, horticulturist to the Duke & Duchess of Devonshire at Chatsworth, architect of the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and one of the greatest unsung heroes of the Victorian Age

In the nineteenth century, which witnessed a revolution in horticulture and urban planning and architecture, Joseph Paxton, a man with no formal education, strode like a colossus. Head gardener at Chatsworth by the age of twenty-three, and encouraged by the sixth Duke of Devonshire whose patronage soon flourished into the defining friendship of his life, Paxton set about transforming this Derbyshire estate into the greatest garden in England. Visitors there were astonished by the enormous glasshouses and ambitious waterworks he built, the collection of orchids, the largest in all England, the dwarf bananas and the gargantuan lily, the trees and plants brought back from all over the world. Queen Victoria came to marvel and, increasingly, with the development of the railway in which Paxton was also involved, daytrippers from all over the country.

It was the Crystal Palace, home of the Great Exhibition in 1851, that secured Paxton's fame. His design, initially doodled on a piece of blotting paper, was the architectural triumph of its time. Two thousand men worked for eight months to complete it. It was six times the size of St Paul's Cathedral, enclosed a space of 18 acres, and entertained six million visitors. By the time of his death fourteen years later, 'the busiest man in England' according to Dickens, was friends with Brunel and Stevenson and in constant demand to design public parks and gardens. His last, seemingly most eccentric project was for a Great Boulevard under glass, a crystal arcade that would connect all the main railway termini in London.

Drawing on exclusive access to Paxton's personal letters, Kate Colquhouns's remarkable biography is a compelling story of a man who typifies the Victorian ideal of self-improvement and a touching portrait of one of that era's great heroes.



Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 09/11/2009
ISBN: 9780007143542
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.76d
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SKU: 8664388331

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4.4 ★★★★★
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Verified Purchase
E.S.
New York, US
★★★★★ 1
Beware not as described!
I have ordered these multiple times in the past because our pup loves them. However, what I received this time is much smaller than before and does not match the dimensions on the site (6 in versus the expected 9). Very disappointed since I ordered two and these are not cheap toys.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2023
A
Verified Purchase
AL
Lake Worth, US
★★★★★ 5
Truly Chew Proof (so far)
Size: Yellow
My dog loves this corn thing (he is 1 year old and roughly 50 lbs). He has gotten to be an aggressive chewer, but this has been one of the only toys that has kept up after long use (4 months since I bought it) and not been destroyed in minutes. There is a nice squeak to it, and I really have to press hard to get it going, but it is easy for him to do it. It is easy to clean, too, because it is rubber. My only comment is for owner awareness: the description says "good for teeth and keeps them clean". This is false. I believe no dog toy or kibble will "clean" their teeth. You, the owner, just have to keep up with their oral hygiene through brushing. As for the other claims -- the training, weight management, and preventing chewing furniture -- again, use your best judgment. I did not purchase the toy for those claims. But as a durable chew toy, this yellow corn does the job and satisfies the natural instinct to chew. Note: Some of the negative reviews for durability are for the alternative blue rubber bone, which I did not purchase.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2025
S
Verified Purchase
S.C
Cuba, US
★★★★★ 5
Highly recommend
Size: Blue
Update! My puppers has had this for months now and I wash it every now and then and its so durable!
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Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2026
K
Verified Purchase
KJ
Draper, US
★★★★★ 5
The best chew, play and teeth cleaning toy
Size: Blue
I have a 24 lb medium australian labradoodle multigen. She loves to chew and nothing soothed her teething like this toy. It also cleans the adult teeth that came in. So win win. The squeakers didn't last but that was my fault for squeaking it to tire her out in play. We personally love this toy and will purchase it again when it wears out. So thanks for a great product. 😉
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Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2025
R
Verified Purchase
Rachel
Birmingham, US
★★★★★ 4
Not indestructible, but pretty close!
Size: Yellow, Size: Yellow
I adopted a pit mix a little over a month ago, and so far he's managed to destroy every single toy he's had, including ones meant for aggressive chewers. He's a sucker for a good squeaky toy, and this had good reviews (and was affordable) so I decided to check it out. He's had his corn for a week now, and surprisingly, it's still holding up pretty well - though there are some caveats to that. My boy didn't even want to wait for me to take his corn out of the plastic bag, he too excited to get it. He went to town immediately, to the point where he was sitting in a puddle of his own drool after about an hour. He managed to squeak it (which I couldn't do myself), but still hasn't really gotten the hang of doing so - and the squeaker, when wet, does sound a little... Well, wet. He managed to have bite marks in it within the first six hours. Within a day, there were tiny bits of yellow rubber starting to appear anywhere that he played with this toy. A week later and there are some decent sized chunks missing from the corn - some of which I've had to cut off when they got loose and I worried about him choking on them. He loves his corn cob, and will likely get at least a few more weeks of play out of it before I have to toss it for his safety. I'm unsure of whether the squeaker is still functional, but he seems to love it whether or not it squeaks. Overall, it's not a bad toy for most aggressive chewers, but it will not last forever. The rubber is as heavy as the regular red Kong toys, but it feels slightly softer, which might contribute to his ability to break off little pieces. Make sure you keep an eye on your dog with this toy, or with any other, especially if they are chew goblins. But I'd definitely buy this toy again.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2024

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