A Modern History of European Cities - by Rosemary Wakeman

About the Book

"Rosemary Wakeman's original survey text comprehensively explores modern European urban history from 1815 to the present day. It provides a journey to cities and towns across the continent, in search of the patterns of development that have shaped the urban landscape as indelibly European. The focus is on the built environment, the social and cultural transformations that mark the patterns of continuity and change, and the transition to modern urban society. Including over 60 images that serve to illuminate the analysis, the book examines whether there is a European city, and if so, what are its characteristics? Wakeman offers an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates concepts from cultural and postcolonial studies, as well as urban geography, and provides full coverage of urban society not only in western Europe, but also in eastern and southern Europe, using various cities and city types to inform the discussion. The book provides detailed coverage of the often-neglected urbanization post-1945 which allows us to more clearly understand the modernizing arc Europe has followed over the last two centuries."--

Book Synopsis

Rosemary Wakeman's original survey text comprehensively explores modern European urban history from 1815 to the present day. It provides a journey to cities and towns across the continent, in search of the patterns of development that have shaped the urban landscape as indelibly European. The focus is on the built environment, the social and cultural transformations that mark the patterns of continuity and change, and the transition to modern urban society.

Including over 60 images that serve to illuminate the analysis, the book examines whether there is a European city, and if so, what are its characteristics? Wakeman offers an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates concepts from cultural and postcolonial studies, as well as urban geography, and provides full coverage of urban society not only in western Europe, but also in eastern and southern Europe, using various cities and city types to inform the discussion. The book provides detailed coverage of the often-neglected urbanization post-1945 which allows us to more clearly understand the modernizing arc Europe has followed over the last two centuries.

Review Quotes

A Modern History of European Cities is essential reading for all students of modern European urban history, and anyone wanting a fuller historical understanding of modernity.
Moritz Föllmer, Associate Professor of Modern History, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I cannot think of anyone who is better qualified than Rosemary Wakeman to write the modern history of urban Europe. This is a book of surprises that decentres conventional narratives, bringing eastern and southern European cities into the frame and extending the timespan beyond the fall of the Berlin wall. The result is a sparkling history, theoretically alert and full of fascinating detail.
Simon Gunn, Centre for Urban History, University of Leicester, UK

This book is terrific, and I know that students will think so too. It makes for captivating reading and is truly European in its scope, rightfully expanding the history of the modern urban experience beyond the cities of London and Paris.
Elizabeth Sage, Associate Professor of History, Whittier College, USA

About the Author

Rosemary Wakeman is Professor of History at Fordham University, USA. She is the author of Practicing Utopia: An Intellectual History of the New Town Movement (2016) and The Heroic City: Paris 1945-1958 (2009). She is also the editor of Themes in Modern European History since 1945 (2003).