"This book by David Frisby has his characteristic hallmarks: it is meticulously well researched and it makes unexpected and exciting connections between bodies of thought not commonly linked together. Indeed the playing off of social theory and architectural theory is one of its distinctive contributions. His various asides, for instance his interest in detective stories, or on expressionism, are always provocative and interesting. A book to be celebrated." Mike Savage, University of Manchester ‘A wonderfully incisive dissection of new configurations of "cities" in the contemporary world' John Urry, Lancaster University "The collection as a whole offers empirically rich and theoretically sophisticated contextual readings of major sociologists' reflections on urban life....In Frisby's hands, spatial dynamics become an indispensable component of sociological theory." Environment and Planning "the collection as a whole offers empirically rich and theoriectically sophisticated contextual readings of major sociologists' reflections on urban life. In Frisby's hands, spatial dynamics become an indipensable component of sociological theory". Thomas Lekan, Department of History, University of South Carolina.