The City in History (Peregrine Books)

Vast, organic and profound, THE CITY IN HISTORY is Lewis Mumford's crowning achievement. In it he traces the evolution of towns, from the primitive cave-shrines and burial tombs of palaeolithic man to the spawling megalopolis of today. But his book is more than history; it is both panoramic overview and sharply focused analysis of the city and all its glorious manifestations; the arts, architecture, crafts, religions, laws, pastimes, and politics that have created, and been created by, the city.