The city has had a long history in India, from the urban civilization of the Indus Valley in 2500 BCE to the megalopolis found in contemporary India. This is the first anthology of the city in India since around 1800, with an accent on the twentieth century. Drawing on fiction, poetry, essays, travel narratives, and scholarly studies in history, anthropology, and cultural studies, this two-volume anthology presents insights into the city with a mix of readings from the most renowned writers, established scholars and authors, and younger voices.

Including poems, short stories, essays, and social commentaries by 54 writers, this volume, in particular, looks at the mosaic of the city, the city of imagination, the city in colonial India, the architecture of the city and its streets. With contributions from leading writers and scholars including U.R. Ananthamurthy, Diana L. Eck, Arjun Appadurai, Dilip Chitre, Charles Correa, Rabindranath Tagore, Mark Twain, Salman Rushdie, Herbert Baker, A.K. Ramanujan, Lina M. Fruzzetti, and Majrooh Sultanpuri, this volume comes with a comprehensive Introduction by Vinay Lal which sets the context for the writings and a special 'further reading: a select bibliography' for the interested reader.