Ben Wilson

From its earliest incarnations 7,000 years ago to the megalopolises of today, the story of the city is the story of civilisation. Although cities have only ever been inhabited by a tiny minority of humanity, the heat they generate has sparked most of our political, social, commercial, scientific and artistic revolutions. It is these world-changing, epoch-defining moments that are the focus of Ben Wilson's book, as he takes us on a thrilling global tour of the key metropolises of history, from Urk, Athens, Alexandria and Rome, to Baghdad, Lübeck and Venice, to Lisbon, Amsterdam, London, Paris, New York, LA, Shanghai and Lagos. 

Managing and re-imagining the city is already one of the most pressing issues of the twenty-first century. With over half the world's population now living in cities, and with the cosmopolitanism of the major world metropolises under attack from revived nationalism and hostility to globalisation, it has never been more important to understand cities and the role they have played in making us who we are. Rich with individual characters, scenes and snapshots of daily life, Metropolis combines scholarship and storytelling in a terrifically engaging, stylishly written history of the world through an urban lens.

Our modern-day cities might seem to represent our separation from the natural world. In fact as Ben Wilson reveals in this captivating re-examination of urban landscapes around the world nature has always been at the heart of the city. Wilson explores the wild side of cities past present and future: the middens abandoned sites and strips of land alongside railway lines. For much of history wild patches in cities provided essential food fuel medicine and places of recreation and escape for city-dwellers and the dividing line between city and countryside was blurred.

Even our post-industrial cities are much wilder places that we might imagine with booming animal and plant populations if we know where to look. In today's urbanised planet natural forces - be they floods storms droughts or pandemics - look set to determine the future of our cities. In a time of climate crisis cities that once built walls and towers to defend against attack; now they have to become greener to protect themselves from external threats. Our future - and that of the planet - will be made in the city. Only by looking deep in to the past examining the present and casting an eye to the future can we really begin to understand the bountiful potential and wonder of our extraordinary urban ecosystems.