Cities

The First 6,000 Years

By: Monica L. Smith

Narrated by: Monica L. Smith

"A revelation of the drive and creative flux of the metropolis over time." (Nature)

"This is a must-read book for any city dweller with a voracious appetite for understanding the wonders of cities and why we're so attracted to them." (Zahi Hawass, author of Hidden Treasures of Ancient Egypt)

A sweeping history of cities through the millennia - from Mesopotamia to Manhattan - and how they have propelled Homo sapiens to dominance.

Six thousand years ago, there were no cities on the planet. Today, more than half of the world's population lives in urban areas, and that number is growing. Weaving together archeology, history, and contemporary observations, Monica Smith explains the rise of the first urban developments and their connection to our own. She takes listeners on a journey through the ancient world of Tell Brak in modern-day Syria; Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan in Mexico; her own digs in India; as well as the more well-known Pompeii, Rome, and Athens. Along the way, she presents the unique properties that made cities singularly responsible for the flowering of humankind: the development of networked infrastructure, the rise of an entrepreneurial middle class, and the culture of consumption that results in everything from takeout food to the telltale secrets of trash.

Cities is an impassioned and learned account full of fascinating details of daily life in ancient urban centers, using archaeological perspectives to show that the aspects of cities we find most irresistible (and the most annoying) have been with us since the very beginnings of urbanism itself. She also proves the rise of cities was hardly inevitable, yet it was crucial to the eventual global dominance of our species - and that cities are here to stay.

©2019 Monica L. Smith (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"[An] enjoyable, humorous combination of archeological findings, historical documents, and present-day experiences.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Smith enthusiastically recounts her work and the findings of colleagues. As they dig to bedrock, making surprising discoveries in each layer of debris, they are overturning past assumptions about the origins and development of cities.... Readers can sense Smith's love of archaeology; her chapter on archaeological methods is especially engaging." (Booklist)

"[A] compelling journey from city life in ancient urban centers to the present and beyond.... By the time the book reaches the urban-age anxieties of the present, we not only appreciate their proper place within the complex trajectory of cities and their rise, we are compelled to consider Smith’s assertion that cities were, and continue to be, central to human ascendancy - for better or worse." (Science)

I learned a lot

The style is s bit too chatty for my taste and i would have preferred more details but it was a good effort to portray an entity we all think we know through the eyes of an
archeologist.

Well researched book.

The book is consistent and reveals interesting patterns in the evolution of cities. Bear in mind this comes from an archaeological perspective, so it doesn't go into deep discussions about history or technology. However, it is was a great read after too many books that are more opinionated (like Harari's).

Ambitious but Limited

A lot of very interesting ideas, but neither the information or history is very deep or compelling.

Written for a child

This book might interest someone who knows nothing and has been nowhere. I gave it a chance, thought it would be more historic or scientific as I got into it, but that was not the case. The reading level, or in this case, the listening level, is definitely elementary, maybe 3rd grade. I do not recommend this book for adults.