An exploration of a subject which concerns us all: our immediate environment. Looking at how and why we arrange our daily lives as we do, the author examines our homes, inside and out; our gardens and neighbourhoods; our places of work and reaction; our cars. He asks why we plan and decorate our homes in the way that we do; why we choose certain colours, patterns, sounds and smells and not others; why some people prefer a noisy, crowded urban environment over an isolated country setting. From showing what our surroundings say about us - how they reflect our personalities, self-image, status and ambitions - the author moves on to examine how our surroundings affect us. How should we cope with the stresses of city life or with the changing patterns of country living? How is our behaviour affected by the changing face of the high street and the new shopping centres? Does environment influence why and where people commit crimes. Then there is the question of what we ourselves are doing to the environment. The destruction of the ozone layer, of rain forests; the growth in toxic water - all are twentieth century phenomena which are having and will continue to have serious global consequences on health, climate and communities.