From the Sunday Times bestselling author a dazzling globe-spanning history of humankind's
greatest invention: the city. 'Brilliant...enchanting' Evening Standard 'Exhilarating' New York
Times The story of the city is the story of civilisation. From Uruk and Babylon to Baghdad and
Venice and on to London New York Shanghai and Lagos Ben Wilson takes us through millennia
on a thrilling global tour of the key urban centres of history. Rich with individual characters
scenes and snapshots of daily life Metropolis is at once the story of these extraordinary
places and of the vital role they have played in making us who we are.
'Panoramic...entertaining and rich in wondrous detail' Tom Holland 'A towering achievement...
Reading this book is like visiting an exhilarating city for the first time' Wall Street Journal
