ABSTRACT
The growth of geography in France, unlike that in Germany with its distinct schools of thought, has been shaped by the work of one man, namely, Vidal de la Blache. This chapter is devoted to the works of Vidal de la Blache and to one of his early pupils, Jean Brunhes who clarified the field of study his teacher so clearly established. Jean Brunhes, was an scholar in France and a maker of geography, his name being as well known as that of Vidal de la Blache through the English translation of his work on human geography. Vidal de la Blache insisted on the study of the physical earth, Nature, which he referred to as the geographical environment, and of Man. A change of approach in the regional monograph from Vidal's initial framework is fully apparent in the twenties. Demangeon's monograph on La Picardie, reflects the conceptual framework of geography that prevailed at the time of Vidal de la Blache.
