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This volume brings together representative selections of Lewis Mumford’s major writings on the central concerns of his life. Praised by Malcolm Cowley as “the last of the great humanists, ” Mumford (1895-1990) produced a body of cultural criticism and commentary that for its range and richness is unmatched in modern American letters. Author of countless articles and more than thirty books – including the landmark works The Culture of the Cities and The City in History – Mumford is arguably this century’s foremost architectural critic. In addition, he shaped some of the most important public policy debates of our time, writing with vigor on such issues as urban development, transportation policy, land planning, the environment, nuclear disarmament, and the problems and promises of technology.
REVIEWS
“This book serves as an introduction to one of the most celebrated and disciplined minds of the twentieth century… This new book is a treasure-house for all those who think that the human mind can make a difference in the human situation.”
– Norman Cousins
“Lewis Mumford has had a deeper and more lasting impact on the thinking of his generation than almost any other figure in public life. That impact was not only intellectual, but moral… I am delighted with the collection.”
– Henry Steele Commager