Metropolis : a history of the city, humankind's greatest invention / Ben Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Ben, 1980- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cities and towns--History.

Cities and towns.

History.

Physical Description:

x, 442 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First United States edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Doubleday, 2020.

Summary:

"From a brilliant young historian, a colourful journey through 7,000 years and twenty-six world cities that shows how urban living has been the spur and incubator to humankind's greatest innovations. In the two hundred millennia of our existence, nothing has shaped us more profoundly than the city. Ben Wilson, author of bestselling and award-winning books on British history, now tells the grand, glorious story of how city living has allowed human culture to flourish. Beginning in 5,000 BC with Uruk, the world's first city, immortalized in The Epic of Gilgamesh, he shows us that cities were never a necessity, but that once they existed, their density created such a blossoming of human endeavour--producing new professions, art forms, worship and trade--that they kickstarted civilization itself. Guiding readers through famous cities over 7,000 years, Wilson reveals the innovations driven by each: civics in the agora of Athens, global trade in 9th century Baghdad, finance in the coffeehouses of London, domestic comforts in the heart of Amsterdam, peacocking in Belle Epoque Paris. In the modern age, he studies the impact of verticality in New York City, the sprawl of LA and the eco-reimagining of 21st-century Shanghai. Lively, erudite, page-turning and irresistible, Metropolis is a grand tour of human endeavour"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Dawn of the City: Uruk, 4000-1900 BC p. 15

2 The Garden of Eden and Sin City: Harappa and Babylon, 2000-539 BC p. 42

3 Cosmopolis: Athens and Alexandria, 507-30 BC p. 70

4 Imperial Megacity: Rome, 30 BC-AD 537 p. 95

5 Gastropolis: Baghdad, 537-1258 p. 118

6 Cities of War: Lübeck, 1226-1491 p. 143

7 Cities of the World: Lisbon, Malacca, Tenochtitlan, Amsterdam, 1492-1666 p. 166

8 The Sociable Metropolis: London, 1666-1820 p. 192

9 The Gates of Hell? Manchester and Chicago, 1830-1914 p. 215

10 Paris Syndrome: Paris, 1830-1914 p. 241

11 Skyscraper Souls: New York, 1899-1939 p. 266

12 Annihilation: Warsaw, 1939-45 p. 289

13 Sounds of the Suburbs: Los Angeles, 1945-99 p. 322

14 Megacity: Lagos, 1999-2020 p. 360.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 401-416) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Livezey Fund bookplate.

Other Edition:

Reproduction of: 9781787330436 Wilson, Ben, 1980- London : Jonathan Cape, 2020

Other Format:

Online version

Wilson, Ben, 1980- Metropolis

Online version: Wilson, Ben, 1980- Metropolis

ISBN:

9780385543460

0385543468

OCLC:

1202610063