The French countryside is as beloved by the many millions of tourists who visit it each year as it is of French people themselves. But it has not always looked like it does today. An Environmental History of France instead presents the countryside in which people live and work and through which they travel as a human creation across 250 years of economic and cultural change, war and revolution. It is a book about the 'making' of the French landscape and an engrossing story linking human geography, history, agriculture and culture.

Showing an awareness of the origins and nature of current ecological and social challenges, Peter McPhee uses a blend of environmental and cultural approaches to paint a vivid picture of rural France's modern history. From the aristocratic control of agrarian resources in the 1770s, to widespread mechanisation in the 19th century, through to the impact of the World Wars and an intriguing discussion about the uncertain future of French rural communities, McPhee provides a nuanced, detailed and absorbing account of a distinctive version of France that is essential to the country's identity.

List of Plates
List of Figures
List of Maps
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Pre-industrial Landscape of the 1770s
2. The Environmental Crisis of the French Revolution, 1789-1799
3. 'Criss-crossing the Kingdom', 1800-1850
4. 'Many conquests to make', 1850-1880
5. 'A landscape worthy of being preserved', 1880-1914
6. 'Corpses of trees covering the corpses of men', 1914-50
7. Making the Contemporary Landscape, 1950-2000
8. Living the Anthropocene, 2000-2020
Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index