Cities

A "vastly entertaining" history of urban centers—from the ancient world to today (Time).

From the earliest example in the Ancient Near East to today's teeming centers of compressed existence, such as Mumbai and Tokyo, cities are home to half the planet's population and consume nearly three-quarters of its natural resources. They can be seen as natural cultural artifacts—evidence of our civic spirit and collective ingenuity.

This book gives us the ecological and functional context of ...