This highly readable and up-to-date history provides an informative critique of the causes and consequences of the modern agricultural revolution, since the agricultural depression of the inter-war period. This includes evaluating the impact of the Second World War, the post-war scientific and technological revolutions and the metamorphosis in the role of the state. It also examines the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy and the more recent attempts to rationalize production. The book provides the essential background for an objective appreciation of modern agricultural development.