Customer Reviews

Re-imagining landscape and its association with England - By: , 12 Dec 2000
David Matless' masterpiece ensures that you'll never view your surroundings through the same eyes again. Looking at the way the landscapein this country has been perceived, designed & re-imagined, Matless takes a chronological journey from the turn of the century to the present day. Tracing the views of both governmental & marginal organisations, we soon learn how definitions of taste, fitness for purpose, & modernity fluctuate over time. According to Matless the two World Wars provide fulcrums for change - helping to construct new ideas about the landscape, & the buildings within it. The Second World Warin particular is seen as a watershed, whereby modernity sprung from the need to eradicate the destruction caused by the Luftwaffe. Re-constructionin its hideous form resulted. In more recent times, the voices influencing ideas about landscape have become ever more informal, as exemplified by the Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society". Ultimately we see that throughout the Twentieth Century arguments have swayed one way & then the next, & at times come full circle. We also see that ideas of English Landscape have not always been entirely English. Allin all, this is a wonderful read & the perfect book for anyone interestedin cultural geography.