Country Life

The well-known geographer and Alpine researcher Werner Bätzing provides a comprehensive picture of rural life from the origins of agriculture 12 000 years ago to the changes in antiquity, from the Middle Ages to modern times and to the present situation. Werner Bätzing's new book examines what rural life actually means, how it differs from urban life, and whether it still has a future in today's globalized world. Since the country has always been and still is in close contact with the city, Bätzing emphasises on the development of cities and on the effects of Industrial Revolution. He also focuses on the discovery of the country as a "beautiful landscape". Bätzing develops five guiding ideas for upgrading country life in order to prevent it from permanently losing residents. His broadly based, historically well-founded portrayal differs from the usual point of view and presents rural life in a completely new light.