Ten Cities that Led the World: From Ancient Metropolis to Modern Megacity

by Paul Strathern

'A book of ideas [...] Strathern ably guides us through these moments of glory.' -- The Times

***

Great cities are complex, chaotic and colossal. These are cities that dominate the world stage and define eras; where ideas flourish, revolutions are born and history is made.

Through ten unique cities, from the founding of ancient capitals to buzzing modern megacities, Paul Strathern explores how urban centres lead civilisation forward, enjoying a moment of glory before passing on the baton.

We journey back to discover Babylonian mathematics, Athenian theatre and intellectual debate, and Roman construction that has lasted millennia. We see Constantinople evolve into Istanbul, revolutionary sparks fly in Enlightenment Paris, and the railways, canals and ships that built Imperial London. In Moscow men build spaceships while others starve, New York's skyscrapers rise up to a soundtrack of jazz, Mumbai becomes home to immense wealth and poverty, and Beijing's economic transformation leads the way.

Each city has its own distinct personality, and Ten Cities that Led the World brings their rich and diverse histories to life, reminding us of the foundations we have built on and how our futures will be shaped.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Cities, Historical, The World

288 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2023

About the author

Paul Strathern (born 1940) is a English writer and academic. He was born in London, and studied at Trinity College, Dublin, after which he served in the Merchant Navy over a period of two years. He then lived on a Greek island. In 1966 he travelled overland to India and the Himalayas. His novel A Season in Abyssinia won a Somerset Maugham Award in 1972.

Besides five novels, he has also written numerous books on science, philosophy, history, literature, medicine and economics.

Reviews

[Fatima Hayee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only title is catchy.Well, the table of contents forced me to read it.I was expecting the history of cities how they developed with perspective of geography, anthropology and architecture. But I am disappointed.
There is nothing new in it if you know world history.

Well , I don't recommend this book to any history lover because it's not gonna quench ur thirst.

But recommended to beginner who doesn't know about history at all.It has errors as well so beware beginners.

[Alex Ripley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but falls down in the execution. The writing is clunky and there are many fact checking errors/typos. The cover writes cheques the book can’t cash.

[Arnab · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nominally a book on an important subject, rendered nearly unreadable by glaring editing, proofreading and fact-checking errors. Listing a few for the benefit of other readers:

Proofreading errors: The Erie canal is misspelled as Eerie Canal at one point (though perhaps not inappositely), and the Indian empire between the Maurya and Gupta periods is the Satvahana empire, not the Sathavana empire. In a footnote about New Orleans, the editors' comments recommending inclusion of La Nouvelle in parentheses is printed as is.

Fact-checking errors: the lion's share of problems lie here, and most are so elementary it could have been solved by a simple Google search. The first man did not land on the moon in 1963, but 1969; India gained independence in 1947, not 1948; India's current prime minister Narendra Modi was born in Vadnagar, Gujarat, not Mumbai, Maharashtra, et cetera.

Not recommended to most readers. I earnestly hope they release a new edition which fixes these errors as early as possible.

[Cíara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts are not historically accurate. Interesting concept, some beautiful use of language but then it becomes a bit more like a list.

[Amy Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concept, lacklustre execution.

In this book, Strathern chooses ten cities that 'led the world' and writes short biographies for each. In my opinion, Strathern opts for the 'obvious' choices - such as Greece (democracy), Rome (Roman empire), London (British empire), Moscow (communism). Although it is not necessarily a limitation, due to the book's length (~200 pages), each city only gets a short look in. As a result, at approximately 20 pages per city most readers will be unlikely to discover any huge revelations in any of the chapters.

I think the book would have benefitted from an increased length to allow a more in-depth discussion for each city. By going for the more 'obvious' choices it is always going to be hard for Strathern to formulate novel lines of discussion in only 20 pages. Alternatively, it could have been interesting for Strathern to have chosen some less obvious cities. For example, the best chapter in the book was on Babylon and its contribution to mathematics. By choosing more cities along these lines, Strathern could have avoided trying to give unique histories of such well-known places in only 20 pages.

[Laura Ghitoi · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is definitely a lot of potential in this book, especially when it comes to explaining the intricate interconnected ties between leading cities, however, the execution is far from excellent. Besides the typos (in important things like the Start of the French Revolution, which in the book is set one century too late), some chapters also feel less well researched and less elaborate. For example, in the Beijing chapter, the author does not even attempt to give more historical context to China, its dynasties, its strategies etc. before going straight to 20th century facts.

A relatively easy to read, digestible history book, but I'm sure there are other books about cities and urbanisation that cover the topics better.

[Jacob Shiels · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true gem.

That is, if you’re looking for a broad retelling of key early human civilisations all the way to present day, and to understand more in depth where humans are from and where we’re headed.

Strathern invites readers into a vignette of his life’s learnings, masterfully weaving generalist knowledge from history, philosophy, mathematics, economics, art and music, to tell an all-encompassing story of human civilisation, told objectively without lacking acerbic perspective and erudition.

If you’re interested in anthropological knowledge organised into a common sense timeline, that doesn’t oversimplify yet but elaborates upon. You’ve found your book here.

[Porter · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Ten Cities” presents an ambitious concept for a book but unfortunately falls far from the mark. The first few chapters are short and elementary, with each city’s overview gradually improving as the book continues. The chapters on Moscow and New York were captivating while the chapters on Babylon, Athens, and Rome left much to be desired. Strathern does indeed present a plethora of interesting facts; however, they are seemingly strewn together in an often sloppy and meandering train of thought to form a book of amateur academic accomplishment.

[Elly · Rating 2 out of 5]

interessante Idee aber die Umsetzung ist fragwürdig. Das Buch ist so eindeutig von einem Mann geschrieben der seine eigene Position nie hinterfragt dass es zum Teil wütend macht. Und in mehreren Kapitel am Anfang fühlt es sich eher nach einer Erzählung and als nach einer historischen Aufarbeitung an.

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely read, albeit lacking in focus. Sometimes gets a bit ‘list-y’.
The chapters on Moscow, Beijing and New York were fantastic.

[Ryan Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent read.

I liked how it is time-line based and how each era flows into the next.

Nothing new if you know your World history though.

[Dominic Fitches · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, love the choice of cities, but wanted more detail and depth

[Neil Menon · Rating 1 out of 5]

As the missus puts it, “this book belongs to the fiction section of a book store!”

What begins as a promising exploration of influential cities across time quickly spirals into a biased, superficial narrative that undermines its own ambitions. The prose lacks neutrality, often guiding readers toward preconceived conclusions amid instances of awkward, terribly constructed phrasing. As someone who enjoys reading history books, this was cringy.

For instance, there’s a passage in page 131, Revolutionary Moscow, that goes “Moscow now entered an era of a mushroom government. Keep the people in the dark, like mushrooms in a shed, and every now and again throw in a bucket of shit. Reality became warped like a nightmare version of Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass…”

The author’s judgmental tone feels entirely out of place in a volume purporting to chronicle history objectively. Far from offering novel and unbiased scholarship, the content recycles readily available information.

For instance, here’s another passage from page 135, “Stalin continued as 'the man of steel'. Party officials summoned to see him in the Kremlin were often so terrified that they would be sent to Siberia, or shot, that they shat themselves while waiting in the outer office.”

Another one: “If the goddam commies and intellectuals in Europe respected high culture, then that was what America would give them.”

And then we arrive at Mumbai: this chapter consists with a multi-page diatribe on the caste system, a three page deep dive into Harshad Mehta’s stock market scandal, and excessive digressions on Bollywood extravaganzas where “films are liable to include location shots in such exotic far-off spots as London, Paris, New York, Brazil and Switzerland (to name but a few). However, these exotic locales are invariably populated with Hindi-speaking extras, bullock carts, beggas and sacred cows, while the main narrative takes little account of its foreign surroundings,” to Mumbai’s underworld and something about a chief of police ‘waving his penis at his office building screaming fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!’

We don’t really understand how Mumbai led the world.

References are perilously thin, with almost no academic sources. While discussing the book with the missus, she suggested that the book belonged in the “fiction” section of a book store rather than the “history” section, as it’s currently classified.

If you love reading history books, I’d give this book a miss.

[James M · Rating 3 out of 5]

More 3.5, not quite a 4.

This book was fine. It just wasn’t quite what I hoped - I’d imagined something looking at the cities themselves and their idiosyncrasies - the introduction has a range in interesting facts and quirks. Unfortunately that was where they stopped and the book then became a broad, general history loosely based around the leading civilisations of the time and their capital city.

This would have been fine, but the second drawback is that this book is clearly written by a journalist and not a historian. It is heavily laden with a predetermined opinion and facts are occasionally given out of context (for one example, the author quotes Louis XVI’s diary entry for the fall of the Bastille as “Rien” - a true fact; however this was his hunting diary recording the fact he caught nothing that day, not an indicator in itself of detachment or disinterest in other events. A bit like accusing a trainspotter of ignoring a major world event because they didn’t see and record any interesting trains that day.).

Those points aside, the book is well written and the first 6 chapters flew by - it does then get a bit bogged down in continually reemphasising the author’s disdain for communism (a view I share, but felt was overdone). If you’re after a gentle, not too deep, general history of the world then this would not be the worst place to start.

[Tristan Conoley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Littered with factual errors, though I liked the concept and the 10 chosen cities. Perhaps wait for a second edition if this book interests you.

I wished some of the chapters went into a little more detail - if you’ve already read this sort of world history genre before, there may not be an awful lot to learn.

As mentioned though, the real problem is the factual mistakes. It���s very hard to enjoy reading a book once you’ve become unable to trust a single sentence you read.

Some quick examples:

1) The moon landing in 1963. No, it was 1969.
2) Isidora Duncan, at 46, married someone 31 years her junior. No, she did not marry a 15 year old - she married a 31 year old.
3) China has 1.8bn people. No it doesn’t.
4) I forget the exact year, but Queen Victoria doing something in the 1700s. Nope!

I am not a historian! These are simply the errors that jumped out at someone who has read a couple of these books before. I wonder how many more mistakes I missed.

[Alize · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a history buff from Istanbul living in Toronto, this book has taught me a lot.

You learn something new from every city. You learn how the Babylonians valued astrology, and its importance in discovering math and science.

You learn the art and science scene in Istanbul, and how the conquering of Istanbul triggered the starting of Rennaissance.

The London chapter was very informative if you want to learn more about WW2, how British came to acquire such power, etc.

The Beijing chapter was also very informative to me - if you want to understand about China’s way of ruling for centuries and the timeline of them joining the world scene.

I usually take breaks reading books but I couldn’t stop reading this one. It’s such a good book filled with a ton of objective historic information and ideas. Must-read!

[Mega Led · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Hizonfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book itself is an informative read, enumerating the 10 cities that have led the world throughout history. However, the criteria needs to be defined clearer as while it gives a broad, historical overview of each city, it tends to meander - is it based on lasting influence? Is it based on impact on that era? What is the author’s definition of lead? While the ones included (Babylon, Athens, Rome, Constantinople / Istanbul, Paris, London, Moscow, New York, Mumbai and Beijing) are worth mentioning, why were seemingly influential cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Venice, The Vatican, Florence, Mecca, Tokyo not discussed? And the discussion on Beijing seemed to have omitted China’s manufacturing and now, technological might. Or should the city that was included be Guangzhou / Shenzhen or Hong Kong instead?

[Hande Binns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten Cities that Led the World: From Ancient Metropolis to Modern Megacity by Paul Strathern
Each city has its own distinct personality, and Ten Cities that Led the World brings their rich and diverse histories to life, reminding us of the foundations we have built on and how our futures will be shaped. What Paul Strathern has done very powerfully is to identify and assess the contribution of ten major cultural and political.
entities to the development of human society. The path that he depicts is from Babylon to Beijing including London and Constantinople/ Istanbul.
A special and very personal note on Istanbul: Constantinople/Istanbul is the only city in the world that was the capital of the world's very influential and large empires Byzantium and Ottoman Empire.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

although an interesting concept, this book fell short on execution. i feel a more critical geographical perspective would’ve provided more focus, or indeed a singular thread (e.g. 10 cities that led the world in science, maths, art etc.). i understand that it was the differences of each city that made them successful, but writing about such vastly different areas in only 20 pages did not allow full understanding. there were many pages that were simply winding descriptions of people who had little links to the city, making it more like a story of people who led certain eras and happened to live in the most powerful area at the time. instead, a more directed focuses would’ve yielded a more interesting and linear book.

[Nils Mattisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great idea for a book, a world history through the lens of the cities that dominated their era, from Babylon to Beijing. Each chapter however reads like a stream of anecdotes that don't quite add up to a story. I found myself wanting to understand more about what caused the shift and direction, but there's not much discussion to that effect.

I also found the author getting a bit ahead of themselves in proclaiming the demise of the west with China and India in the ascent. The same was said of Japan in the 70s and 80s, yet Tokyo is barely mentioned in this book. Neither is there a mention of Washington, which, for better or worse, still leads the world.

[Olly Colluphid · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. A solid choice of cities from a western perspective, and part of the fun of this sort of book is arguing in your head whether you agree with the list.

Writing was fine. Readable. Some typos.

It is trying to be a history of ideas rather than a world history.

But... The problem with a wide ranging pop-history book like this is that there are errors. This is in addition to some dubious apparent interpretations. In the topics I know about I could see factual errors. This leaves you worried about the rest.

An ok read, but if you want to factual information then check with a more reliable source.

[SHREYA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched book full of mini trivia about the 10 places which we thought we knew a lot about. Most impressive for me was the ease at which the author shifts gears and moves to subsequent chapters in the book. The inter linkages of historical, cultural, economic and social was well received. Off course one can question the selection of cities and the criteria, but undoubtedly the author has attempted (fairly well) to expanded the view of looking at global progress from a plain east-west dichotomy.

[Liam Heron · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very basic highlight reel. Lacks much depth with regard to the cities themselves and constantly falls foul of offering sweeping linear history centred around larger areas - or notable individuals, seemingly picked at random. I picked this up at an airport and finished it with indifference to the author. The erratic nature of the narrative did at least lead to me learning some random trivia pertaining to things that I would otherwise not have read up on specifically.

[Emre Aydin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had fun reading this book. Either consume it as an easy-reading book about some fun facts in cities, cultures and people that lived there in certain eras, or consume it as an introductory level to some of histories important facts. This is not an in-depth look into anything, therefore is easy and fun to read, but not the most interesting one. I've certainly learned new stuff, and it certainly provoked me to think.

[Sarah McKenzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book BUT couldn’t justify giving it any more than two stars due to its evident errors, two of which were so blatant that I didn’t trust the rest of the book. The book was also more of a lens into a society/period of time through the view of a city, rather than a history of the cities themselves, which was interesting but not what I expected.

[Ben Haisley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting about the history of megacities and the e popular mindset that ruled the world at the time. Looking at the big picture, this book helps understand what has helped cities take off in the past, and what has brought them down. Looking to the future, this book is relevant to what society and lawmakers can do to boost the world’s cities.

[Bert McGaughey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite clunky prose, certainly not a page turner. Interesting premise, average execution. Whilst I don't necessarily disagree vehemently with the authors choice of these 10 cities being world leaders, it's definitely a European perspective. I would say Cairo brought more to the world than Revolutionary Moscow. To not include Africa in this list is galling.

[Krita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was perfect for me, someone who is relatively new to history. It provided facts and details but these weren’t overwritten or overly detailed and kept the book informative without being a drag.

I learnt a lot about cities in this book and it was probably the first non-fiction book I have genuinely enjoyed and zoomed through.

Very well written and condensed - would recommend.

[Farzana Faruk · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent starting point for readers who want to understand history from a very basic level. The book doesn’t overwhelm with excessive detail. Instead, it offers concise insights into how certain cities shaped human civilization. It successfully sparks curiosity and broadens the reader’s perspective. An accessible read for beginners who want to develop a deeper interest in history.