Urban Life in the Distant Past (Urban Archaeological Pasts)

This book is really terrific. Professor Smith pulls together conclusions from decades of research and presents models that explain how social interactions in urban environments create the energy that powers economic and community growth as well as poverty, crime and disease. The well-known cases studies he uses demonstrate his ideas and offer comparative insights. Anchored in empiricism this book shows how conclusions can be made about ancient urban formation that will explain state functions and can even be extended to help understand our modern urban and state functions.