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Confronted with what may appear to be a cluster of global crises—health, environmental, economic and even democratic—the virtues of local and rural living are gaining ground in the media and in politics. This article aims to put this return to local living into historical perspective. For almost 300 years, European societies have been undergoing profound changes, particularly economic ones, which have come—in varying degrees and provoking varying levels of distress—at the cost of breaking away from nature. Throughout our recent history, a surprisingly diverse range of voices (political leaders, artists, activists, and so on) have evoked a return to the land in various forms. This return appears to be a providential solution to the disruptive changes related to such crises. The health crisis caused by COVID-19 seems not only to have confirmed, but also to have exacerbated this trend.