Originally published in 1982, this book emphasizes the continued significance and distinctiveness of rural settlement, while at the same time recognizing the great changes of recent decades. The early chapters review the field of rural study and trace the evolution of man-land relationships in the establishment of the traditional elements of rural settlement. Later chapters discuss the changes wrought by urbanisation, the industrialisation and commercialisation of agriculture, the growth of recreation and the expanding role of public policy. The book stresses the processes which underlie rural settlement structure and, consistent with its geographical bias, the functional and cultural foundations of settled landscapes. While the main emphasis is on Europe and North America, the diversity of expression of general trends in rural settlement is recognised by drawing upon examples from Africa, India, Latin America and South-East Asia.

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. It examines the main historical processes and ideas underlying the continuing attachment to the countryside, and how these have influenced popular values and lifestyles, defined attitudes to nature, country life and landscape, and affected the development of rural and urban landscapes. The cultural geographical framework recognizes the particular strength of the countryside ideal in Anglo-American culture, and explores the similarities and differences in its British and North American expression. This book draws together diverse images of landscape to explore the preoccupation with place, culture and representation in the West.

``God made the country, man made the town''
William Cowper's words, written two centuries ago, underline and 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, courntry life and landscape, and affected the development of both rural and urban landscapes? What are the consequences for society and the environment? These are the central questions addressed in this book
The Countryside Ideal draws together diverse images of landscape to explore this preoccupation with place, culture and representation in the West.

Originally published in 1982, this book emphasizes the continued significance and distinctiveness of rural settlement, while at the same time recognizing the great changes of recent decades. The early chapters review the field of rural study and trace the evolution of man-land relationships in the establishment of the traditional elements of rural settlement. Later chapters discuss the changes wrought by urbanisation, the industrialisation and commercialisation of agriculture, the growth of recreation and the expanding role of public policy. The book stresses the processes which underlie rural settlement structure and, consistent with its geographical bias, the functional and cultural foundations of settled landscapes. While the main emphasis is on Europe and North America, the diversity of expression of general trends in rural settlement is recognised by drawing upon examples from Africa, India, Latin America and South-East Asia.