Metropolis: The Story of Mankind's Greatest Invention. Ben Wilson

Nothing else in the two hundred thousand years of human history has influenced us as much as the city. Cities have facilitated the greatest human achievements—new professions, new art forms, religions, and commerce—that have given rise to civilization. Ben Wilson writes about cities of different eras precisely in terms of the innovations generated by the unique creative energy of city dwellers: civil society in the agora of Athens, global trade in ninth-century Baghdad, financial transactions in London coffeehouses, domestic comfort in the heart of Amsterdam, the splendor of the Belle Époque in Paris. In our modern era, the skyscrapers of New York inspire utopian visions of modern community living, and the trees of 21st-century Seattle and Shanghai offer hope for sustainable development in a time of climate change. Ben Wilson's "Metropolis" captivates with its broad overview and interesting details, convincingly proving that the history of human civilization is, in fact, the history of cities.