Books by Ben Wilson

Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention

by Ben Wilson

In a captivating tour of cities famous and forgotten, acclaimed historian Ben Wilson tells the glorious, millennia-spanning story how urban living sparked humankind's greatest innovations.

“A towering achievement.... Reading this book is like visiting an exhilarating city for the first time—dazzling.” —The Wall Street Journal

During the two hundred millennia of humanity’s existence, nothing has shaped us more profoundly than the city. From their very beginnings, cities created such a flourishing of human endeavor—new professions, new forms of art, worship and trade—that they kick-started civilization. Guiding us through the centuries, Wilson reveals the innovations nurtured by the inimitable energy of human beings together: civics in the agora of Athens, global trade in ninth-century Baghdad, finance in the coffeehouses of London, domestic comforts in the heart of Amsterdam, peacocking in Belle Époque Paris. In the modern age, the skyscrapers of New York City inspired utopian visions of community design, while the trees of twenty-first-century Seattle and Shanghai point to a sustainable future in the age of climate change. Page-turning, irresistible, and rich with engrossing detail, Metropolis is a brilliant demonstration that the story of human civilization is the story of cities.

Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention

by Ben Wilson

In a captivating tour of cities famous and forgotten, acclaimed historian Ben Wilson tells the glorious, millennia-spanning story how urban living sparked humankind's greatest innovations.

“A towering achievement.... Reading this book is like visiting an exhilarating city for the first time—dazzling.” —The Wall Street Journal

During the two hundred millennia of humanity’s existence, nothing has shaped us more profoundly than the city. From their very beginnings, cities created such a flourishing of human endeavor—new professions, new forms of art, worship and trade—that they kick-started civilization. Guiding us through the centuries, Wilson reveals the innovations nurtured by the inimitable energy of human beings together: civics in the agora of Athens, global trade in ninth-century Baghdad, finance in the coffeehouses of London, domestic comforts in the heart of Amsterdam, peacocking in Belle Époque Paris. In the modern age, the skyscrapers of New York City inspired utopian visions of community design, while the trees of twenty-first-century Seattle and Shanghai point to a sustainable future in the age of climate change. Page-turning, irresistible, and rich with engrossing detail, Metropolis is a brilliant demonstration that the story of human civilization is the story of cities.

The Making of Victorian Values: Decency and Dissent in Britain: 1789-1837

by Ben Wilson

A history of pre-Victorian England likens elements of the period to those of today's world, in an account that cites the contributions of Romantic authors, profiles the role of imperialism, and traces Britain's influence as an economic and political power. By the author of The Triumph of Laughter.

Heyday: The 1850s and the Dawn of the Global Age

by Ben Wilson

Heyday brings to life one of the most extraordinary periods in modern history. Over the course of the 1850s, the world was reshaped by technology, trade, mass migration and war. The global economy expanded fivefold, millions of families emigrated to the ends of the earth to carve out new lives, technology revolutionized how people communicated, and a steamships and railways cut across vast continents and oceans, shrinking the world and creating the first global age. It was a decade of breathtaking and remorseless transformation, fueled by the promise of exponential progress.

In Heyday, the acclaimed historian Ben Wilson recreates this time of explosive energy and dizzying change, a rollercoaster ride of booms and busts. The 1850s were witness to the laying of the first undersea cable in 1851, the rush for gold from California to Australia, and fleets of pirate vessels docked in Hong Kong harbor, eager to take advantage of booming trade. The West's insatiable hunger for land, natural resources, and new markets encouraged free trade, bold exploration, and colonization like never before.

Buoyed by supreme self-confidence -- as well as new technologies of war -- nations clashed across the globe, and indigenous peoples fell victim to an assurgent West. Reckless economic expansion led to lasting ecological damage, and to the demise of local cultures which could not keep pace with the blistering pace of capitalism and free trade. In Heyday we encounter Muslim guerrilla fighters in the Caucasus Mountains and freelance empire-builders in the jungles of Nicaragua, British free trade zealots preying on China and samurai warriors resisting Western incursions in Japan.

A dazzling history of a tumultuous decade, Heyday traces the origins of our globalized world order.

100% Unofficial Taylor Swift Guide: Volume 2

by Farshore, Ben Wilson, 100% Unofficial

It's me, hi ... I'm the bestselling 100% Unofficial Taylor Swift Guide, it's me! The perfect addition to your Wi$h Li$t.

Farshore are the #1 annuals publisher in the UK (Bookscan TCM 2024)

Excited about new album The Life of a Showgirl? So are we! Get ready for the glitter and glam with a look back at Taylor's shining career - because The Eras Tour may be over, but we're not over it.

Jump then fall into dazzling facts about the mastermind that is Taylor Swift, from her almost two year long world tour, to her 11 perfect albums, gorgeous outfits, sparklin' achievements and more!

Volume 2 of this guide includes Tay-mazing activities, a look at Swift's albums (Taylor's Versions, of course), highlights from the Eras Tour and fresh roundups of Taylor's endless awards, videos and collabs.

Whether you're a new fan (if so, enchanted to meet you) or you go way back (to December), the 100% Unofficial Taylor Swift Guide: Volume 2 is for you! Long story short, Taylor just hits different.

100% Unofficial Taylor Swift Guide Volume 1

by Farshore, Ben Wilson, 100% Unofficial

The best holiday gift for Swift fans everywhere--a gorgeous, full color guide to all things Taylor!

Packed with fun facts all about our Tay-Tay, the 100% Unofficial Taylor Swift Guide is the perfect guide for new and old fans alike. Dive into Taylor's origins in the country scene, discover her style through her most gorgeous outfits over the years, learn about her endless list of hugely impressive achievements and of course take a walk through time with her 11 stunning albums.

Whether you're getting ready to shake it off at the Eras Tour, want to find out more about Tay-Tay's journey to stardom or simply need to brush up on her cats' names (ahem - Olivia, Meredith and Benjamin - ahem), then you've come to the right place. Soon you'll know T-Swift all too well.

The perfect unofficial guide for fans. Are you ready for it?

Urban Jungle The History and Future of Nature in the City

by Ben Wilson

A lush history of the love/hate relationship between nature and the city, and an inspiring argument that the natural world may prove to be the city's savior

In this verdant follow-up to Metropolis, his seven-thousand-year history of people's relationship to the city, Ben Wilson explores our long-held desire to control and contain nature within our cities, from the earliest efforts in our first cities to wall nature out, to the Roman ideal of nature in the city, to our most magnificent and beloved but quite artificial city parks.

Today, cities are the fastest-growing type of habitat on Earth, a seeming disaster for the planet as they gobble up the deltas, rainforests, woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands where we like to site our cities. In Urban Jungle, Wilson looks to the history of nature and the city for clues to how cities--and the planet--can survive. He takes us around the world to cities where efforts to shift the balance between city and nature are already under way. When you think of the city of the future, think less of concrete seawalls and hydraulic gates, think more of cascading foliage, urban farms, dense groves of forest, and banyan trees coiled around office buildings.

In Urban Jungle, Wilson makes us see climate change as only the latest chapter in the dramatic human story of nature and the city.