Metròpolis

In the two hundred millennia that humanity has been in existence, nothing has transformed us more profoundly than cities, effervescent centers of creativity and innovation, drivers of the greatest advances in history. Although only a small minority inhabited them for centuries, the heat they radiate has triggered most of our political, social, commercial, scientific and artistic revolutions. Metropolis is a global story of how urban centers have allowed great civilizations to flourish, and also the story of how we have come to be who we are. Wilson takes readers on a journey through major cities through more than 7,000 years of history to reveal the innovations fueled by each: from the beginnings of civic education in Athens to the eco-invention of Shanghai in the 21st century, from the beginnings of global trade in 9th century Baghdad, to the role of London's coffee houses in the rise of financial markets, to domestic comforts in the heart of Amsterdam, to Parisian swagger during the Belle Époque, to the impact of verticality in the city of New York or the expansion of Los Angeles.