How to Read Towns & Cities is a pocket-sized primer to understanding the forces that have shaped the world`s cities. It takes a practical, highly visual approach
- showing us how to read the stories embedded in the fabric of the neighbourhoods, towns, & cities in which we live today. The fortunes of towns & cities rise & fall along with the fate of the civilisations to which they belong. Some are lost entirely, now no more than ruins; others have thrived as urban centres for millennia; & all contain vital clues embedded in their streets & skylines which reveal why their inhabitants grouped together, & tell of their unique social, political & cultural histories. Packed with plans, maps, & drawings, this book takes the reader on an international journey of discovery to explore the history of cities from our earliest urban origins to the contemporary world city
- from Babylon to Beijing, London to Paris, & from the skyscrapers of New York to the streets of their own home town. A must-read for anyone interested in history, cities, & travel, this fascinating book turns the reader into urban detective to see how our towns & cities grew the way they are.