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Metropolis
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  • Published: 1 September 2021
  • ISBN: 9781784707521
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $32.99
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Metropolis

A History of Humankind’s Greatest Invention

Formats & editions
EBook
16 July 2020
Audiobook
24 Sept 2020
Paperback
1 Sept 2021
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Metropolis is a dazzling, globe-spanning history of humankind’s greatest invention: the city.

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
  • Published: 1 September 2021
  • ISBN: 9781784707521
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $32.99
Categories:

About the author

Ben Wilson

Ben Wilson is the author of five critically acclaimed books, including What Price Liberty?, for which he received the Somerset Maugham Award; the Sunday Times bestseller Empire of the Deep; and, most recently, Heyday: The Dawn of the Global Age. Born in London in 1980, he has worked in television, broadcast on the radio in several countries, and writes regularly for publications such as The Times, Daily Telegraph and Prospect. He lives in Suffolk, UK.

portrait photo of Ben Wilson

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Praise for Metropolis

[A] towering achievement . . . Reading this book is like visiting an exhilarating city for the first time-dazzling, frazzling, sometimes both simultaneously. Metropolis teems with information and observations.

The Wall Street Journal

Ben Wilson takes us on an exhilarating tour of more than two dozen cities and thousands of years ... Metropolis is a bold undertaking that makes for gripping reading.

New York Times Book Review