Metropolis
A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention
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Narrated by:
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John Sackville
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Written by:
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Ben Wilson
About this listen
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 200 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. Pause-resisting, irresistible, and rich with engrossing detail, Metropolis is a brilliant demonstration that the story of human civilization is the story of cities.
©2020 Ben Wilson (P)2020 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
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What the critics say
"Ben Wilson takes us on an exhilarating tour of more than two dozen cities and thousands of years ... Metropolis is a bold undertaking that makes for gripping reading." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Historian Wilson (Empire of the Deep) offers a sweeping survey of how the rise of cities over the past 6,000 years has shaped human history.... An amiable and well-informed tour guide, Wilson stuffs his account with intriguing arcana and analysis. Armchair travelers will be enlightened and entertained." (Publishers Weekly)
"Information rich and accessible. For history and public policy readers seeking a global vision of the impact of world cities." (Library Journal)
What listeners say about Metropolis
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Pierre Gauthier
- 2021-03-29
Masterful!
This book brilliantly succeeds in presenting a synthesis of the history of city and suburbia, in terms of built form and transportation but mainly with respect to the multiplicity of activities that they support.
Information is organized chronologically, each chapter focussing on a theme and a given city but diverging as needed to increase thoroughness and reader interest. Thus, we are led from Uruk in 4000 BC to Lagos in the 21st century. Essential cities such as Athens, Rome, Baghdad, London, Paris and New York are covered but so are less well-known places like Harappa, Lübeck and Warsaw. Care is taken to cover the whole planet, with a point of view that is not blindly Western, for instance regarding Malacca and Tenochtitlan. Overall, liveliness and freshness of approach are striking.
Admittedly, the topic is so vast that such a work can only be a cross-section. Thus, many historically significant cities such as Vienna, Naples, Calcutta, Buenos Aires and Washington are barely mentioned, if at all. Still, the amount of information conveyed is so massive that many will find it profitable to read the book twice.
In the audio version, the narrator does a fine job at being vivacious throughout. He must be commended for the efforts he makes in adequately pronouncing foreign words in French, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, etc.
This book will not disappoint anyone interested in cities or in history in general, no matter his or her level of prior knowledge, from novice to expert.
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