"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...

Offers an archeological perspective on the history of cities from antiquity to present day, detailing why cities began and the distinctive qualities that make them responsible for the growth of civilization and global economies.

In Cities, the acclaimed historian John Reader takes us on a journey of the city from its earliest example in the Ancient Near East to today's teeming centers of compressed existence, such as Mumbai and Tokyo. Cities are home to half the planet's population and consume nearly three-quarters of its natural resources. For Reader, they are our most natural artifacts, the civic spirit of our collective ingenuity. He gives us the ecological and functional...

Acclaimed urbanist Kotkin examines the evolution of urban life over the millennia and, in doing so, attempts to answer the age-old question: What makes a city great? Despite their infinite variety, all cities essentially serve three purposes: spiritual, political, and economic. Kotkin follows the progression of the city from the early religious centers of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and China to the imperial centers of the Classical era, through...

The citys̕ development from ancient times to the modern age.

Acclaimed author and independent scholar P. D. Smith explores what it was like to live in the first cities, how they have evolved, and why in the future, cities will play an even greater role in human life.

Presents an illustrated look at life over different eras around the world, from prehistory to the present and beyond.

History of cities and towns from the Middle Eastern civilization in 3500 BC through the twentieth century metropolis.