New Lives, New Landscapes Revisited: Rural Modernity in Britain

Linda M. Ross (Editor), Katrina Navickas (Editor), Ben Anderson (Editor), Matthew Kelly (Editor)

Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

Abstract

In 1970, the Architectural Press published New Lives, New Landscapes, Nan Fairbrother's optimistic account of how the British landscape was materially transformed in the post-war decades. Reservoirs, power stations, television and radio-transmitter masts, electricity and telephone pylons, as well as local authority housing and new or improved roads, produced a new rurality. So too did state-subsidised agricultural intensification, wider public access to the countryside, and environmentally protective measures. These included landscape designations such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Central to Fairbrother's approach was the concomitant transformation in how British people interacted with these new landscapes in an age of increased mobility. This new edited collection of essays, New Lives, New Landscapes Revisited: Rural Modernity in Britain brings a fresh historical perspective to bear on Fairbrother's concerns. It examines how the changing relationship between government, state, and citizen gave rise to a distinct rural modernity during the middle decades of the twentieth century.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP)
Number of pages297
Edition1st
ISBN (Print)9780197267455
Publication statusPublished - 8 Jun 2023

Publication series

NameProceedings of the British Academy
PublisherOxford University Press/ British Academy
Volume256

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