New Book Chronicle

Abstract

With over half of the world's population living in cities, urbanism is one of the defining characteristics of the contemporary age. In the past, by contrast, most people lived scattered in villages and rural settlements. Yet pre-industrial cities still exerted a disproportionate influence on society, economy and culture. In Cities that shaped the ancient world, John Julius Norwich collects 40 of the most influential. Taking inspiration from this urban super league, this instalment of New Book Chronicle tackles a selection of new volumes, each concerned with one of the cities identified by Norwich, taking us 5000 years and 13 000 km from Ur to Tikal. Each book also presents a different publication format, offering the opportunity to think not only about the individual cities, but also how we write about them.