Product Description

This book explores the city's raisons d'etre, functions and forms, its achievements and problems, from fortifications to sewers, factories to markets, theatres and bars. John Reader's history of Africa was praised by the "Sunday Times" for 'masterfully [ranging] across time and space, making extraordinary and thought-provoking connections'. His new book, an exploration of the nature of the city and of city-life will draw on the same skills, both as a researcher and writer. From the ruins of the earliest cities to the present, Reader will explore how cities develop and thrive, how they can decline and die, how they remake themselves. He will investigate their parasitic relationship with the country around them, the webs of trade and immigration they inhabit, how they feed and water themselves and dispose of their wastes, focusing as much on Baron Haussman's creation of the Paris sewers as of his plans for the grand boulevards, on prostitution as on government, on human lives as on architecture, on markets as on cathedrals, in a sweeping exploration of what the city is and has been, fit to stand alongside Lewis Mumford's 1962 classic, "The City in History".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129069 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From the Publisher
A magisterial exploration of the nature of the city from its beginnings to the mega-conurbations of today.

About the Author
John Reader is an author and photojournalist. He holds an Honorary Research Fellowship in the Department of Anthropology at UCL and is a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Royal Geographic Society.

Customer Reviews

A book for the 21st century
While this book is about the city and its role in history, if you want a deeply historical account you may be a little disappointed, as this book is firmly rooted in the present day.
It works chronologically, going from ancient cities of Egypt and Roman times up to present day London and New York, but the present day city is really the guidiing light behind the book, which is in no way a bad thing. Despite the fairly heavy subject, the book reads well (which isn't always the case with historical tomes) and provides a good balance between catering to the layman and the more knowledgable reader.
I found the parts about the 12th to 16th centuries most enlightening, as the author looked at the rise of notes of exchange in Italy and the problems that arose from the choice of Madrid as the capital of Spain.
For any lovers of Rabelais out there, you won't be disappointed in how much attention is paid to human waste in this book, and the author's coverage of the development of sewage disposal is frankly gripping. Bizarre as that might sound, it sheds a lot of light on the general trends behind the development as the city of a whole, and the trial and error procedures that have lead to many of its most successful developments.
The book ends with a nod to the future and a note on global warming, and as such it contains within its 300 pages something about every era of the city, which is no mean feat, and as a result of this book I'm now buying books about the periods in it that interested me the most, which in its way is more than a recommendation for any book.

An Essential City Reader
John Reader takes us on a historical trip through the city starting in Mesopotamia 6,000 years ago and finishing at the present day taking a quick view at the usual suspects, London, Rome, Venice, New York and a few others. I agree with the author that this book is needed as the city is 'the defining artifact of civilisation', and by 2030 two thirds of us will be living in one. So the concept of the book is clear, better understand the city, how it works and how they differ and you will better understand civilisations and the forces at work in cities that even shape the outcome of wars and empires themselves. In answering the problems of the city we may be able to solve some of the environmental issues that face humanity now. Its optimistic and upbeat and demonstrates a love for the city,command of the subject and is full of interesting facts. Its pulled together very well too, and is eminently readable which is no small advantage. While perhaps the conclusion could draw from the whole book more clearly it is an excellent book and should be on every ones 'city reader' list.