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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.

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CHOICE Review

Due to its size and generous illustrations, this handsome volume might easily be mistaken for a coffee-table book, which would be unfortunate. Sequenced chronologically from prehistory to the present, the chapters (with brief bibliographies) are organized in 12 sections: "Roots," "Hydraulic Civilizations," "From Temenos to Physis," "Of Villas and Woods," "The Rule of Faith," "Gardens of Perspective," "The Measure of Reason," "Gravity," "Combustion," "Acceleration," "Terrain Vague," and "Topology." Most sections include case studies of specific sites. Illustrations, accompanied by detailed captions, include color photographs of landscapes, architectural structures, ornamental details, 3-D reconstructions of sites, manuscripts and historic maps, and paintings and sculptures. What distinguishes this publication from other histories of landscape is its grounding in the historical, spiritual, philosophical, and cultural meaning of landscapes as they relate to the ecological evolution of human intervention in the environment. From the hydrology of early agriculture's sedentary control of the land to the reclamation of wastelands, Girot (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich) highlights the need for a cultural revolution of nature and a "restart" for the planet, given today's widespread landscape ruins. A thought-provoking invitation to reflection and action. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. --Micheline Nilsen, Indiana University South Bend

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Christophe Girot is Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture at the highly prestigious Institute of Landscape Architecture, ETH Zurich.