"An introduction, by R. Sennett.--The nature of the city, by M. Weber.--The metropolis and mental life, by G. Simmel.--The soul of the city, by O. Spengler.--The city; suggestions for the investigation of human behavior in the urban environment. Human migration and the marginal man. By R. Park.--Urbanism as a way of life. Rural-urban differences. Human ecology. By L. Wirth.--The folk society, by R. Redfield.--The cultural role of cities, by R. Redfield and M. Singer."

In this provocative collection of essays, a diverse selection of films are examined in terms of the relationship between cinema and the changing urban experience in Europe and the United States since the early 20th century.

How does movement affect the metropolis?

"An introduction, by R. Sennett.--The nature of the city, by M. Weber.--The metropolis and mental life, by G. Simmel.--The soul of the city, by O. Spengler.--The city; suggestions for the investigation of human behavior in the urban environment. Human migration and the marginal man. By R. Park.--Urbanism as a way of life. Rural-urban differences. Human ecology. By L. Wirth.--The folk society, by R. Redfield.--The cultural role of cities, by R. Redfield and M. Singer."

A New York Review Books Original An uncompromising contrarian, a passionate polemicist, a man of quick wit and wide learning, an anarchist, a pacifist, and a virtuoso of the slashing phrase, Dwight Macdonald was an indefatigable and indomitable critic of America’s susceptibility to well-meaning cultural fakery: all those estimable, eminent, prizewinning works of art that are said to be good and good for you and are not. He dubbed this phenomenon “Midcult” and he attacked it not only on aesthetic but on political grounds. Midcult rendered people complacent and compliant, secure in their common stupidity but neither happy nor free. This new selection of Macdonald’s finest essays, assembled by John Summers, the editor of The Baffler, reintroduces a remarkable American critic and writer. In the era of smart, sexy, and everything indie, Macdonald remains as pertinent and challenging as ever.

A variety of new approaches are used to look at the early modern European city.