The Geography of Urban Transportation Book

Its pretty damned impressive.

Instead of a typical comprehensive "history of the city," Kostof finds simple urban forms, such as "the grid" or "the boulevard," and traces their evolution and interpretation across hundreds of years. Not in any simple and easy to read chronological order, mind-you, but in a sort of inspired free association. In a few heavily illustrated pages he'll jump from the 8th century grid of Chinese capital Chang'an, and its monarchical and imperialistic tendencies, to the democratic Jeffersonian land survey of the US, to the extensions of medieval garrison towns in France.

On one hand I'm glad I read it all because its all worth reading, but its so dense and so convoluted that one's eyes can glaze over the pages of obscure names of small cities and long-dead kings. Flipping through it again makes me realize how much I missed.