BEN WILSON has an undergraduate and master's degree in history from Cambridge. He is the author of five previous books, including What Price Liberty?, for which he received the Somerset Maugham Award, and the Sunday Times bestseller Empire of the Deep: The Rise and Fall of the British Navy. He has consulted for various TV history programs and appeared on TV and on national radio in the U.S., UK, and Ireland. He has written for The Spectator, The Literary Review, The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman, Men's Health, The Guardian Online, and GQ.
[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. --The New York Times Book Review [An] ode to cities and cosmopolitan life . . . Metropolis has the added virtue of Wilson as an erudite, creative guide to the history of civilization through its great urban areas. --TIME magazine He explores the growth, diversity and evolution of human civilisation in this enchanting and meandering book. --The Evening Standard [A] sharp reminder that the metropolis is vulnerable... [Wilson] brilliantly synthesises the forces that make cities hum. --Financial Times Information rich and accessible. For history and public policy readers seeking a global vision of the impact of world cities. --Library Journal