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

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Doubleday, [2020]Copyright date: ©2020Edition: First United States editionDescription: x, 442 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustratons (some color), color maps ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780385543460
  • 0385543468
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction: The metropolitan century -- Dawn of the city: Uruk, 4000-1900 BC -- The Garden of Eden and Sin City: Harappa and Babylon, 2000-539 BC -- Cosmopolis: Athens and Alexandria, 507-30 BC -- Imperial megacity: Rome, 39 BC - AD 537 -- Gastropolis: Baghdad, 537-1258 -- Cities of war: Lübeck, 1226-1491 -- Cities of the world: Lisbon, Malacca, Tenochitlan, Amsterdam, 1492-1666 -- The sociable metropolis: London, 1666-1820 -- The gates of hell? Manchester and Chicago, 1830-1914 -- Paris syndrome: Paris 1830-1914 -- Skyscraper souls: New York, 1899-1939 -- Annihilation: Warsaw, 1939-45 -- Sounds of the suburbs: Los Angeles, 1945-99 -- Megacity: Lagos, 1999-2020.
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.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 307.7609 W746 Available 33111010463509
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In a captivating tour of cities famous and forgotten, acclaimed historian Ben Wilson tells the glorious, millennia-spanning story how urban living sparked humankind's greatest innovations.

"A towering achievement.... Reading this book is like visiting an exhilarating city for the first time--dazzling." -- The Wall Street Journal

During the two hundred millennia of humanity's existence, nothing has shaped us more profoundly than the city. From their very beginnings, cities created such a flourishing of human endeavor--new professions, new forms of art, worship and trade--that they kick-started civilization. Guiding us through the centuries, Wilson reveals the innovations nurtured by the inimitable energy of human beings together: civics in the agora of Athens, global trade in ninth-century Baghdad, finance in the coffeehouses of London, domestic comforts in the heart of Amsterdam, peacocking in Belle Époque Paris. In the modern age, the skyscrapers of New York City inspired utopian visions of community design, while the trees of twenty-first-century Seattle and Shanghai point to a sustainable future in the age of climate change. Page-turning, irresistible, and rich with engrossing detail, Metropolis is a brilliant demonstration that the story of human civilization is the story of cities.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: The metropolitan century -- Dawn of the city: Uruk, 4000-1900 BC -- The Garden of Eden and Sin City: Harappa and Babylon, 2000-539 BC -- Cosmopolis: Athens and Alexandria, 507-30 BC -- Imperial megacity: Rome, 39 BC - AD 537 -- Gastropolis: Baghdad, 537-1258 -- Cities of war: Lübeck, 1226-1491 -- Cities of the world: Lisbon, Malacca, Tenochitlan, Amsterdam, 1492-1666 -- The sociable metropolis: London, 1666-1820 -- The gates of hell? Manchester and Chicago, 1830-1914 -- Paris syndrome: Paris 1830-1914 -- Skyscraper souls: New York, 1899-1939 -- Annihilation: Warsaw, 1939-45 -- Sounds of the suburbs: Los Angeles, 1945-99 -- Megacity: Lagos, 1999-2020.

"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.

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