Metropolis, Ben Wilson
Metropolis, Ben Wilson
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Metropolis
A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention

Author: Ben Wilson

Narrator: John Sackville

Unabridged: 17 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/10/2020

Synopsis

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 two hundred 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. Page-turning, irresistible, and rich with engrossing detail, Metropolis is a brilliant demonstration that the story of human civilization is the story of cities.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Boudewijn on October 18, 2021

Until 1800, no more than 3 to 5 percent of the world's population lived in urban areas. By 2050 this will be two thirds. Compact urban areas lead to creativity and new start-ups, as any latte drinking hipster will tell you. But the city also provides less pleasant things, which sometimes take epidem......more

Goodreads review by Brandon on December 28, 2020

This is the first book I have ever read that I simultaneously decided not to finish but also felt compelled to review. This isn't because it's bad. The merits of Wilson's text outweigh the negatives, but this would have worked better as a series of short essays extolling various qualities of urban l......more

Goodreads review by Jon on March 17, 2021

What a hot mess of a book! 7,000 years of urban history, from Uruk to Lagos, presented in a linear fashion (excellent) with frequent detours across wide swaths of time (irritating), to topics that are only marginally relevant to the stated intent of the book (maddening). I learned a lot, but was fru......more

Goodreads review by Nad on April 26, 2022

`Quizá no haya otro fenómeno psíquico que esté tan incondicionalmente reservado a la ciudad como la mirada indiferente, Escribió el sociólogo alemán Georg Simmel, en su ensayo La metrópolis y la vida mental (1903). Para Simmel, la personalidad urbana moderna, la conforma, en parte. Un cambio rápido......more

Quotes

"[A] towering achievement . . . Reading this book is like visiting an exhilarating city for the first time-dazzling, frazzling, sometimes both simultaneously. Metropolis teems with information and observations."
--The Wall Street Journal

"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

"[An] ode to cities and cosmopolitan life . . . Metropolis has the added virtue of Wilson as
an erudite, creative guide to the history of civilization through its great urban areas."
--TIME magazine

"He explores the growth, diversity and evolution of human civilisation in this enchanting and meandering book."
--The Evening Standard

"[A] sharp reminder that the metropolis is vulnerable... [Wilson] brilliantly synthesises the forces that make cities hum."
--Financial Times

"[Wilson] hops from city to city and century to century, interweaving data, primary sources, anecdotes and the arts. . . Wilson has done an admirable job wrangling his topic down to an easily digestible size."
--Star Tribune

"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

"Wilson has mastered a gargantuan sweep of knowledge. . . Wilson’s enthusiasm for what ancient and modern cities have done for civilization is infectious, as is his magpie approach to various subjects under discussion . . . impeccably crafted."
--Highbrow Magazine

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