'Melbourne is two cities. There is the city of space and place, of streets and parks and buildings where we live. Then there is the imagined, inspirational city that holds the memories of the lives its people have led. '
'In memoir and autobiography, diaries and journalism, fiction and poetry, many writers have shared their perceptions of Melbourne. John McLaren shows how this past lives on beneath today's city, taking us back to the boats that filled its harbour, the rivers that run beneath its streets and the ghosts who dance in its market. His book offers new prospects of reading, new ways of seeing the city within the city.' (Source: back cover)
Book contains three sections with acknowledgements and introduction:
- Part I Shaping the City
- Part II The City Spreads
- Part III Breaking the Patterns
