This is a collection of Georg Simmel's essays on Rome, Florence, and Venice plus his essay on "The Metropolis and the Life of the Spirit." Simmel has had a great influence on many thinkers of the 20th century and particularly in the area of urban studies and psycho-geography.

The essays on the cities are interesting in how he takes similar features of each and comes to different conclusions about what each city is or represents based on how these similar features are juxtaposed or used. I think the discussions, while interesting, might be somewhat time specific (these are from the turn of the last century) as far as whether he might come to the same conclusions in the current cities. That said, the thought processes are both worth reading and worth adding to our own arsenal of ways to think about location.

The extra essay is remarkably still applicable to the contemporary city. I don't agree with some of his subjective judgements about what things mean but the hows and whys seem to still hold a lot of water. In other words the methodology still holds a lot of value though the assumptions might be different now than then.

A short and interesting read if you're interested in urban areas, psycho-geography, sociology, and/or philosophy. If you're familiar with Simmel this is a handy collection, first time collected together in English. If you aren't familiar with him this is a very accessible introduction to how he thinks as well as an area in which he has probably had the most prolonged influence.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss. ( )