Ben Wilson (1) (1980–)

This big history of the city stretches from Uruk four thousand years ago in Mesopotamia to contemporary Lagos. The author is honest about the downsides of urban life, symbolised for Christians since the bible as Bablyon, while also celebrating the attractions of cities such as Athens with their cosmopolitan agora. This is not essential reading, but I did enjoy how central the author places the thermal bathes of ancient Rome towards the centre of what a civilised city should mean. Google 'Old Penn Station' in New York to see photos of the train station, now demolished, that was modelled on the ancient baths of Caracalla in Rome. Now imagine standing in this space next time you're having a hot shower. Breathtaking.… (mehr)

In “Metropolis: A History of the City,” historian Ben Wilson traces some 5,000 years of the invention, development, expansion and innovation to be found in human cities across the globe, starting with Uruk in Mesopotamia (Iraq), which dates from at least 3000 BCE, and ending with speculations about modern “megacities” (vast areas of land covered in sprawling, contiguous cities - think the NYC-Boston region, or large swaths of modern-day China) and the role of cities in mitigating and adapting to the oncoming climate crisis. In between, Wilson discusses the important role of street food (based in the chapter on Bagdad between the 6th and13th Centuries CE), war (Rome, Lubeck in the Middle Ages, Warsaw in WWII), sociability (London in the 15th to 19th Century, Paris off and on, Amsterdam in the 1500s) and the horrors of the Industrial Age (Manchester and Chicago), among many other topics and times. Lest one think this is fairly Euro-American-centric, he includes numerous chapters about cities ranging from Tenochtitlan (Middle Ages, site of what is now Mexico City) to Lagos, Nigeria (the megacity of the future), among many others. Engagingly written, and including a fair number of illustrations in two sections, the tale of how cities have shaped humanity over the millenia is spelled out with both meticulous detail and broad scope, depending on what he wants to highlight in a given moment, and his sources range from the earliest written documents (including “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” which chronicles the real Uruk) to recent hip-hop videos (Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”). Indeed, my only quibble with the book is that the extensive notes section listed at the end of the volume is entirely taken up with citing sources; no fun little asides or comments on controversial interpretations here. But then again, those things can be found in the main text throughout, so recommended!… (mehr)

A sweeping, magisterial travelogue through history to explore the development and nature of cities.

The author features specific cities in specific eras, beginning with Uruk around 4000 BCE and ending in Lagos in the modern day to exemplify the trends of cities in different times and places.

He describes the reasoning for coming together to form cities; the stigma of cities and sinfulness; the development of cosmopolitanism in the Mediterranean; the height of Rome; the center of science and food in Baghdad; how major cities developed in Europe on account of war, using Lubeck as the example; cities at the end of medievalism, comparing and contrasting Lisbon, Malacca, Tenochtitlan, and Amsterdam; the early modern city as in London; industrial cities like Manchester and Chicago; the tear down and rebuild of Paris; the skyscraper mania and its meaning in New York; the resilience of cities despite attempts at destruction with Warsaw; the expansion of urbanity to the suburbs with Los Angeles; and he looks at the megacities of the world in terms of modern Lagos.

He covers much ground and makes a robust defense for the city as a great innovation of humanity against its detractors. A great read.

**--galley received as part of early review program… (mehr)