Includes bibliographical references (p. 520-533).

"From Stonehenge to the royal gardens of Versailles, from the Nazca Lines of Peru to the Forbidden City of Beijing, from the great temple complexes of ancient Egypt to New York's Central Park, people throughout the world from the dawn of civilization have shaped the landscape around them. This book, a survey of the history of landscape design, considers what the evolution of human interaction with the land reveals about the development of society, and how the resulting cities, parks, and gardens embody the values of the cultures that planned and built them. Beginning with prehistoric caves and stone circles, and continuing through the cities and planned environments created by civilizations from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome up to the most exciting avant-garde gardens and earthworks of the present day, author Elizabeth Barlow Rogers discusses these superb landscapes in their historical and cultural contexts. Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of plans, drawings, and photographs, many made specifically for this book, Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architectural History will be an invaluable resource to scholars, architects, garden enthusiasts, and indeed to anyone who appreciates the place-making creations of both the great artists and the ordinary folk who have shaped the land."--Jacket.