This module examines people's attitudes to and interactions with the natural and built environment in Britain from 1700 to 1939. It considers changing intellectual, social, cultural, economic, political, scientific and technological developments, nationally, regionally and locally, within an environmental framework. It surveys and analyses key themes, such as changing attitudes to nature, the `polite landscape’ in the eighteenth century, the environmental impact of the agrarian, industrial and transport revolutions, compassion for animals, the industrial town, pollution, public health and the disposal of wastes, the creation of parks and botanical gardens, the garden city, the origins of conservation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the National Trust and the impact of the motor car. The module raises questions about how people perceive, use, transform, manage and protect their environments and provides a broad historical context for understanding debates about the impact of science, urbanisation, environmental protection and animal rights.