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More praise for A History of Future Cities

“The pleasure in Mr. Brook’s unusual history is in his descriptions of the creation of these cities. The deeper message, though, is about the tensions such cities create.”

—Philip Delves Broughton, Wall Street Journal

“Provocative [and] gripping. . . . An original and fascinating book, undergirded by prodigious research. . . . A History of Future Cities bristles with questions, both answered and unanswerable, that provoke the reader to want even more.”

—Thomas S. Hines, Times Literary Supplement

“Whatever the futures of these four cities hold, Brook cautions that progress and growth need more than construction projects and infrastructure.”

—Daily Beast

“Penetrating. . . . [Brook] sketches a portrait of a place that is not just a city, but an idea, and a dream.”

—Parag Khanna, CNN

“A fascinating and erudite look at where westernization ends and modernization begins. . . . [P]rofound and profoundly hopeful.”

—Mark Pabst, Financialist

“[An] engaging, quite original take on urban planning. . . . Wholly readable.”

—Alan Moores, Seattle Times

“Meticulously researched. . . . Brook relays these complicated histories succinctly, densely and vividly.”

—Journal Sentinel

“The book’s readability . . . belies a huge research effort and narrative ability on Brook’s part, facilitating deep understanding of the social and physical structures of each city.”

—Nick Jenisch, Press Street

“Brook has an eye for the ironies that riddle history. . . . [H]is powers of observation and easy prose provide a pleasurable read and a thought-provoking historical narrative leading up to contemporary urbanization.”

—Jill Baker, Asian Review of Books

“Brook contains the madness of revolutionary Russia, the decadence of extraterritorial Shanghai, and the heady days of early Dubai into a neat narrative arc while zooming in on each city’s architecture to add depth to the story and contribute his own considerable expertise.”

—Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, New Inquiry

“Lucid, intelligent and riveting. . . . [F]or lovers of urban history, this book is a must-read.”

—Helmi Yusof, Business Times (Singapore)

“Daniel Brook tells a fast moving story, filling in much of the political history of each city along the way.”

—Alan Powers, History Today

“[A History of Future Cities] offers a rich panorama of the mechanisms at work in cities which may one day displace London, Paris and New York as the torchbearers of progress. As such, it deserves our full attention.”

—Literary Review

“[Brook] marshals well-known facts with great facility into exciting narratives that steer us from each city’s origin, through cycles of boom and bust, to its present state.”

—Girish Shahane, Caravan

“In these deft portraits . . . Brook artfully condenses and illustrates three centuries of revolutionary urban development and globalizing impulses.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Brook enthusiastically engages at the intersection of urban affairs and globalization.”

—Booklist

“A History of Future Cities remains a delicious read.”

—Shekhar Krishnan, Time Out Mumbai

“Enormously elucidating and relevant.”

—Kirkus Reviews