Overview

In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes listeners on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of �atalh�y�k in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy's southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today. Newitz travels to all four sites and investigates the cutting-edge research in archaeology, revealing the mix of environmental changes and political turmoil that doomed these ancient settlements. Tracing the early development of urban planning, Newitz also introduces us to the often anonymous workers--slaves, women, immigrants, and manual laborers--who built these cities and created monuments that lasted millennia. Four Lost Cities is a journey into the forgotten past, but, foreseeing a future in which the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities, it may also reveal something of our own fate.

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9781665115612

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Reviews

[An] astounding reflection on the rise and fall of civilizations. -- Financial Times (London) Excellent...fair, judicious, open-minded. -- Wall Street Journal Like a guide to vanished places, this book offers archaeological clues to our urban roots...[incluiding] the famed Pompeii, with its exquisitely preserved brothels and bars and graffiti. -- New York Times Book Review Newitz clearly draws parallels and lessons for the here and now from these once-vast settlements...Highly recommended. -- Booklist (starred review)

"""[An] astounding reflection on the rise and fall of civilizations."" -- ""Financial Times (London)"" ""Excellent...fair, judicious, open-minded."" -- ""Wall Street Journal"" ""Like a guide to vanished places, this book offers archaeological clues to our urban roots...[incluiding] the famed Pompeii, with its exquisitely preserved brothels and bars and graffiti."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"" ""Newitz clearly draws parallels and lessons for the here and now from these once-vast settlements...Highly recommended."" -- ""Booklist (starred review)"""

Author Information

Annalee Newitz, a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, is a founder of io9 and former editor-in-chief of Gizmodo. They are the author of Scatter, Adapt, and Remember and the novels Autonomous and The Future of Another Timeline. They live in San Francisco. Chloe Cannon is a voice talent and audiobook narrator.

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