Top 10 books about cities

Leo Hollis was born in London in 1972, was educated at Stoneyhurst College and studied history at university. He is the author of number books on London including London Rising: The Men Who Made Modern London and Cities Are Good for You: The Genius of the Metropolis.

For the Guardian he tagged ten top books about cities, including:

Night Walks, by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was perhaps the greatest chronicler of the sentimental city; he makes the reader empathise with Victorian London, charting its emotional geography as much as its physical. In Night Walks, he attempts to cure his insomnia by trudging through the streets. Like every city, London looked completely different under the flicker of gas lamps.

Read about another book on the list.

Learn about Hollis's list of five notable books on why cities are good for you.

Also see: The top 10 cities in literature, Simon Jenkins's five best books on cities, and Pete Hamill's five best books about cities.

--Marshal Zeringue