In many ways the history of civilization is a history of our relationship with nature and landscape. Christophe Girot chronicles this intimate connection, drawing on all aspects of mankind's creativity and ingenuity, and bringing together the key stories that have shaped our manmade landscapes.

Starting from the need to clear land for cultivation and to enclose space for protection - the forest clearing and the walled garden - there emerges a vital and multifaceted narrative that describes our cultural relationship to, and dependence on, the landscape, right up to the present day.

Organized chronologically, each chapter includes a thematic essay that ties together the central developments and a case study illustrated with specially commissioned photographs and meticulously detailed 3D re-creations showing the featured site in its original context.