Another beautiful book from the Folio Society! Illustrated title-spread and printed endpapers; lavishly illustrated with photos; cloth bound, lettered and blocked in gilt, silver and green. Illustrated slipcase. An abridged edition of the 1987 original.
From the Preface:
...My book, by contrast, attempts to give generously illustrated impressions of several of the world's greatest cities at crucial points in their development, to glimpse at their origins, to indicate the nature of the civilisations in which they emerged and whose ethos they reflected as well as to describe their planning and architecture, the artistic treasures provided by the men and women who lived in them, their work, pleasures and customs.
The cities of the ancient world are represented here by Thebes in the days of the Pharaohs, Athens in those of Pericles and Rome at the time of the Emperor Trajan whose monumental column still stands not far from the ruins of his market and forum and whose empire stretched from the Scottish border to the deserts of North Africa, from the Iberian frontier to the Euphrates and from the Caspian Sea to the lower Nile.
... Constantinople ... Hangzhou ... Cuzco ... Florence ... Amsterdam ... Paris ... London ... St. Petersburg ... Venice ... Vienna ... New Orleans ... Tokyo ... Berlin ... Moscow ... New York ... Sydney.
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