Cities: A Magisterial Exploration of the Nature and Impact of the City from Its Beginnings to the Mega-Conurbations of Today [Hardcover]

John Reader (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2005

John Reader, author of the seminal book Africa: A Biography of the Continent, now brings us Cities: A Magisterial Exploration of the Nature and Impact of the City from Its Beginnings to the Mega-Conurbations of Today—an eye-opening journey from the earliest settlements in Mesopotamia to the sprawling megalopolises of today—Tokyo, Mexico City, and Sao Paolo. Reader reveals how cities came to be, what made them thrive, how they declined, and how they remade themselves. He debunks long-held theories and shows that the first cities actually preceded and inspired the growth of farming; that trees grow better in cities; and that even though three thousand years separated Imperial Rome from the Sumerian cities, their everyday lives were quite similar and share commonalities with our lives today. Focusing as much on Baron Haussman’s creation of the Paris sewers as on his plans for the grand boulevards, on prostitution as on government, on human lives as on architecture, on markets as on cathedrals, Reader gives us a humanistic work fit to stand alongside Lewis Mumford’s classic, The City in History. Throughout this stimulating survey, Reader proves a marvelous tour guide to what he calls "the brightest stars in the constellation of human achievement."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his often captivating treatise on the city, Reader (Pyramids of Life) squelches the notion that country living is preferable to urban living, explaining in detail how cities actually maintain civilization and have done so since Sumerian times. More than half the world's population now lives in cities, compared with less than 10% in the 1700s. Cities provide more economic opportunities, and more intellectual and social stimulation than nonurban life. But the demands of their populations must be met from outside the city itself. (Cities cover only about 2% of the world's land mass, but require nearly three-quarters of its resources.) Thus, posits Reader, cities will need to improve for the quality of life of their inhabitants to improve—and to sustain themselves without damaging the rest of the planet with their heavy ecological footprints. He explores cities' historical and anthropological elements, focusing particularly on Europe and Africa (one of the book's flaws is the short shrift given to Asia, where overcrowding is phenomenal). Although heavy on statistics, this thorough and readable look at urban growth will interest historians, anthropologists, sociologists and urban dwellers. Illus.
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Review

“A superb historical account of the places in which most of us either live or will live.”
–Condé Nast Traveller

“Vastly entertaining.”
–Time --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press (August 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871138980
• ISBN-13: 978-0871138989
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,582,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lively, engaging, and vigorous revelation of just how cities evolved, February 7, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cities: A Magisterial Exploration of the Nature and Impact of the City from Its Beginnings to the Mega-Conurbations of Today (Hardcover)

With a subject as broad and diverse in its scope, and is as potentially weighty as humanities' urban complexes, one would think a book of the same name would cover over 500 pages and be detrimental to simple leisure browsing -- not so: Cities is a lively, engaging, and vigorous revelation of just how cities evolved, what made them thrive or decline, and how they transformed themselves to cultural centers over the centuries. Contrary to popular belief, cities actually fostered the growth of farming and hold a symbiotic and close relationship with the countryside and trade routes: John Reader's Cities provides a map of changes and the social, political and economic connections between cities and country around the world. The lively format the author John Reader created for Cities makes for an exceptional historical coverage which lends particularly well to leisure reading.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars And the point is?, January 5, 2007

By 

L. Berlin "disraeli67" (Evanston, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cities: A Magisterial Exploration of the Nature and Impact of the City from Its Beginnings to the Mega-Conurbations of Today (Hardcover)

This book seems to be getting good reviews, and to be honest I am not completely sure why. Let me begin with the good. It is an easy read and the story told is interesting. However this is not particularly a history and there are parts of the book that left me wondering what the point was. On the positive side, Mr. Reader begins the book with a particularly fascinating account of early cities beginning in Turkey and going to Sumaria.

From here though he gets lost. He devotes very little time to Greece and Rome and then seems to gloss through history. Some of what he relates, while interesting sheds little light on cities or their development. His chapter on Francesco deMarco Datini comes to mind first. It is an interesting story and I am sure he has something to do with the development of cities or lives in them, but I was left unsure what. Much could be told about the rise of Renaissance Italy and its city-states such as Florence, Venice, Genoa, and Milan. But little is offered.

Then there is his attempt to make political points. Sometimes it is pro-free market, sometimes pro-environment, sometimes it seems he is off to fight a battle against poverty that while maybe worthy, seems out of context. In fact at the end of many chapters he tries to bring in a modern point all too often. For example there is a chapter on the plague. It is interesting, but he never really explains how it was defeated in Europe. Instead we get some point on doctors and hospitals that seems to be a call for medical reform of some type. There is also a chapter on Hiroshima, which begins well enough and promises to hold interest. Questions like how did people live there after the bomb or how was the city rebuilt pop into my mind. From there he goes into a discussion of solar energy. What is the connection? What do we learn about the city in general or Hiroshima in specific?

In short, this book wanders so much in such a short space I would give it only 1 star, but the stories, even though off-topic are interesting so I give this book three stars but suggest anybody really trying to learn history start somewhere else like say Alexandra Ritchie's book on Berlin.

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, May 24, 2011

By 

pinedog - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cities (Paperback)

This book is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the historical development of cities. It's was such an enjoyable read - I wish all texts could be this much fun.