One of the contradictions of modern urban civilization is the persistence of a nostalgia for rural life and landscape which has raised the countryside to an idealized status. The discussion of this phenomenon is frequently restricted to the relatively narrow perspectives of literary and intellectual history. This work attempts to broaden the analysis of the countryside ideal by exploring the relationships between its cultural origins and its manifestation in contemporary landscapes.

God made the country, man made the town.'
William Cowper's words, written two centuries ago, underline an idealisation of rural life and landscape which persists to this day.
What are the main historical processes and ideas underlying the continuing attachment to the countryside? How have these shaped popular values and lifestyles influenced artistic expression, defined attitudes to nature, country life and 8andscape, and affected the development of both rural and urban landscapes? What are the consequences for society and the environment? These are the central...