Cities and Civilizations

by Christopher Hibbert

From Thebes, Jerusalem, and Athens to New York, London, Sydney, Amsterdam, Moscow, and Berlin, Cities and Civilizations explores the world's great cities and their golden ages. Famed historian Christopher Hibbert vividly brings each city to life -- its moments of power and prestige, of cultural ferment and political dominance -- providing a panoramic sweep encompassing almost four thousand years.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Cities, Geography, Reference

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Christopher Hibbert, MC, FRSL, FRGS (5 March 1924 - 21 December 2008) was an English writer, historian and biographer. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of many books, including Disraeli, Edward VII, George IV, The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici, and Cavaliers and Roundheads.

Described by Professor Sir John Plumb as "a writer of the highest ability and in the New Statesman as "a pearl of biographers," he established himself as a leading popular historian/biographer whose works reflected meticulous scholarship.

Reviews

[John Tarttelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that combines the founding and growth of great cities with the individual histories of prominent people associated with each metropolis. It includes ancient Thebes, Athens, Rome and Constantinople and then moves on to the Middle Ages with Hanghzhou in China, Cuzco, Florence, the Amsterdam of Rembrandt, the Paris of Louis XIV, Pepy's London, Saint Petersburg, the Venice of Canaletto and Vienna during the reign of Franz Josef. Part Three describes New Orleans, Tokyo, Berlin, Moscow, New York and Sydney.

I have the London Folio edition which is particularly well presented. The illustrations are very varied and quite fascinating. Hibbert likes to include scandals, often sexual, associated with certain people and places and the book is all the more readable because of them! He also mentions interesting things like the pet lions kept in Florence and the cheetahs used by Justinian of Constantinople to hunt brown bears across the water in Asia Minor. Justinian's wife Theodora was an 'animal' herself whose lusts - according to Procopius - were quite insatiable. The eponymous founder of Saint Petersburg, Peter The Great was no less than six feet seven inches tall. The same height reputedly as Harald Hardrada the Viking vanquished at the Battle of Stamford Bridge by Harold Godwinson in 1066. Hardrada did a stint at Constantinople himself as a member of the Emperor's famous Varangian Guard. Many of the Saxon soldiers defeated at the Battle of Hastings that year went to join the same body of soldiers as a life under William the Conqueror held no appeal for them.

Hibbert makes one obvious error. In the chapter on New Orleans he states that Napoleon forced the Spanish to cede Louisiana to France and that the French Emperor subsequently sold it because: "Napoleon was in such urgent need of funds to finance his war against England...' (P. 192) What he does not say is that as well as Napoleon being responsible for the largest ever peaceful transfer of territory from one country to another, it was the British Government that reneged on the 1802 Treaty of Amiens - by keeping hold of Malta - that was the cause of renewed war between France and England. As Colonel John Elting states in his book Swords Around a Throne: "England repudiated the Treaty of Amiens (signed March 27, 1802) and declared war on France, following the ancient and very profitable English practice of authorizing its warships to seize French merchant vessels before issuing the formal declaration". In early 1805 Napoleon wrote to George III proposing peace between the two countries but his proposal was contemptuously ignored - this just months before the Battle of Trafalgar!

Overall an excellent and engaging read, well worth the five stars.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summaries of predominantly white cities- which I guess is on track for a publication from the 80s? The rare non-white cities were clearly stereotyped as well.