We are, Woolf contends, urban apes.' - London Review of Books And, in a surely conscious paradox, he ventures a master hypothesis of his own: an evolutionary approach to urbanism. From hydraulic despotism as the driver of urbanism to civilisation-ending vulcanism at Santorini, Woolf dismembers a lot of sacred cows. 'A general history that manages to escape both the superficiality and the cretinous populism to which the genre is prone. Whatever one thinks of the evolutionary underpinning of life and death, no one has ever made a more compelling case for seeing cities as part of the natural history of our species.' - Peter Thonemann, Times Literary Supplement Woolf has an enviable knack for getting across complex ideas in a deft and stylish way, without any sacrifice of precision. 'As I hope will be obvious, this is ever such a good book. 'Greg Woolf reminds us of how vulnerable urban life has often been to plague, invasion and economic collapse.' - Harry Mount, The Spectator an impressive sweep of a book.' - Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian Woolf makes for an authoritative, readable and thought-provoking guide through a few thousand years of our life as urban animals.' - Kyle Harper, The Wall Street Journal ' The Life and Death of Ancient Cities' is a big history that leaves aside some of those big comparative questions, preferring to draw out the contingent and the particular in its vivid portraits. ' Selected as a 2020 Book of the Year in The Times Literary Supplement'

The life and death of cities