The relationship between man and nature has recently become a topic of research by professional historians. For a modern specialist, environmental history (environmental history) is associated primarily with American science. The more interesting it is to present to the reader the book “Nature and Power” by Joachim Radkau, Professor at Bielefeld University, first published in German in 2000 This is the first attempt by a German-speaking author to interpret the world's environmental history. and. Radkau in his book travels through a variety of eras and landscapes - from the "water republics" of Venice and Holland to the rice terraces of China and Bali, meets with a variety of figures - from primitive hunters to modern specialists in helping third world countries. The red thread throughout the book is the idea that the issue of the environment is always a question of power. The semantic center of the book is the section "Water, forest and power" .. No less important is the idea that “nature” is not only something external to a person, but also a significant part of himself. the history of ecology, according to the author, is the history of mentality. the special value of the book consists in the gigantic coverage of the used literature - not only the leading works of well-known foreign specialists of the twentieth century, but also the reaction to them are analyzed The book is addressed to a wide range of readers ..