Cities: A Magisterial Exploration of the Nature of the City from its Beginnings to Contemporary Tokyo, the Largest City the World has Known
by John Reader
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Book Summary Information
Author: John ReaderEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2005-08-12
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Book Reviews of Cities: A Magisterial Exploration of the Nature of the City from its Beginnings to Contemporary Tokyo, the Largest City the World has Known
Book Review: Good but also lacking...
Summary: 4 Stars
When I picked up this book, Cities by John Reader, I wasn't sure what I was going to think of it. I mean, c'mon, its a book about cities. But, I was pleasantly surprised. It is engaging book and one that tells interesting stories.
I really enjoyed the early portions of the book as it looks over the ancient cities and discusses how they were formed. My historical knowledge of ancient cities is sorely lacking, so it was interesting to read how organized these cities were and the structure that made up these cities.
The biggest complaint though that I had was that the story seemed to not quite know where to go from chapter to chapter. You begin by thinking the book would flow from ancient times and just progress to present time but it does not. It bounces back and forth from what goes into making up a city to plagues in a city to how to feed cities, etc. It often seemed disjointed.
The story telling though is very good. The facts and figures are interesting (it was interesting to read of the difficulties to get food/grain into Rome 2000 years ago and that there were over 6 million individual loads taken from the shores to downtown Rome to be able to feed the Romans). I wish the organization was a bit better, but the book was enjoyable nonetheless.
Summary of Cities: A Magisterial Exploration of the Nature of the City from its Beginnings to Contemporary Tokyo, the Largest City the World has Known
A magisterial study of the city from its beginnings to the mega-conurbations of today.Cities is a fascinating exploration of the nature of the city and city life, of its structures, development and inhabitants.
From the ruins of the earliest cities to the present, John Reader explores how cities coalesce, develop and thrive, how they can decline and die, how they remake themselves. He investigates their parasitic relationship with the countryside around them, the webs of trade and immigration they rely upon to survive, how they feed and water themselves and dispose of their wastes. The book is a sweeping exploration of what the city is and has been, fit to stand alongside Lewis Mumford?s 1962 classic The City in History.
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