Cities of the World
A History in Maps
The history of the city is the history of man himself, with all his contradictions: magnificent and squalid, noble and irrational, creative and self-destructive.
Opinion
"The idea of telling the history of a city through maps is an ingenious one, especially as many historic maps, with their pictorial, bird's eye view, capture the intimate, human scale of the pre-modern city."
"There is an appropriate and pleasing symmetry to the construction of this absorbing and beautifully produced book."
(Pick of the Week, The Age)
"A treasure trove of maps that show the development of some of the world's greatest cities."
"In a word: compelling."
(The Herald Sun, 15/10/05)
About this Title
The history of the city is the history of man himself, with all his contradictions: magnificent and squalid, noble and irrational, creative and self-destructive. The city has been the focus of civilisation , the fountainhead of ideas and the great energy-source of human history, but it has also been a place of warfare, disease, ugliness and broken ideals.
Cities of the World is a highly original book, which holds up a mirror to some of the world's greatest cities. It traces their historic structure and unique character through maps and panoramic views produced of them over the centuries. Illustrating the classical city-state, the medieval fortress, the baroque capital and the industrial metropolis, the images show how the architectural form and the social life of our cities have been shaped - not only by their geographical setting, but also by religion, royal power, commerce, social ideals, and occasionally artistic vision.
Condensing centuries of history in one volume, Cities of the World is a thought-provoking book for the armchair traveller, and for anyone passionate about the history of human civilisation. From Athens to Brasilia, Washington to Moscow, San Francisco to Saigon, Venice to Lhasa, Cities of the World is a journey via maps, exploring man's perennial love-hate relationship with his finest, most complex and troubling creation, the city.
About the Author
Peter Whitfield is an independent scholar and a leading expert in map history and exploration. He is a former director of Stanford's International Map Centre in London and now runs his own company publishing facsimiles of historic maps. His previous books include The Image of the World (1994), The Charting of the Oceans (1996), Landmarks in Western Science (1999) and Sir Frances Drake (2004).
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