The Oxford handbook of cities in world history /

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Bibliographic Details
Edition:1st ed.
Imprint:Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.
Description:xxix, 882 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm.
Language:English
Series:[Oxford handbooks]
Oxford handbooks.
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/9115766
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Clark, Peter, 1944-
ISBN:9780199589531
0199589534
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:In 2008 for the first time the majority of the planet's inhabitants lived in cities and towns. Becoming globally urban has been one of mankind's greatest collective achievements over time and raises many questions. How did global city systems evolve and interact in the past? How have historic urban patterns impacted on those of the contemporary world? And what were the key drivers in the roller-coaster of urban change over the millennia - market forces such as trade and industry? Rulers and governments? Competition and collaboration between cities? Or the urban environment and demographic forces? This pioneering comparative work by fifty leading scholars drawn from a range of disciplines offers the first detailed comparative study of urban development from ancient times to the present day. The Handbook explores not only the main trends in the growth of cities and towns across the world but also many of the essential themes in the making and remaking of the urban world.
Review by Choice Review

Clark's edited tome is not an encyclopedia; nevertheless, in scope and content it is most certainly encyclopedic. This comparative examination of global urban development over time (4000 BCE to the present) comprises 44 chapters chronologically structured in three parts ("Early Cities," "Pre-Modern Cities," and "Modern and Contemporary Cities") that range both in survey and in thematic forms across the historic urban landscape, from ancient Uruk to Dickensian London, to modern Beijing, Lagos, and Bangalore. The distinguished author has selected a stellar assemblage of contributors (e.g., Peter Burk, Carl Abbott, Alan Gilbert, Carola Hein, Lynn Hollen Lees, Robin Osborn, and William Rowe) who focus on the evolution of major urban systems stressing key variables such as power (politics), demography, and the rise of commercial networks. Thematic chapters include essays on early urban economies, contemporary urban social and economic inequality, the urban environment, and the creative city.The volume is surely unique if only in its sheer comprehensiveness. The nicely crafted and carefully structured chapters provide overviews of the latest urban scholarship, including urban archaeology, urban anthropology, and urbanization theory (Weber, Childe, Polyani, et al.), replete with current urban data analysis, maps, and charts highlighting past and current urban trends. Each chapter contains useful endnotes and a bibliography. Clark avoids overly tilting the volume toward the West. African urbanization, Latin American cities, urban growth in the Middle East and South Asia, and the history and patterns of urbanization in China are fully represented. While inevitable overlap causes repetition and occasionally annoying backward references, the chapters can be used individually by both undergraduates and graduate students. A must acquisition by any college or university library. Summing Up: Essential. All academic levels/libraries. J. F. Bauman University of Southern Maine

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review