5 Cities that Ruled the World – Douglas Wilson

5 Cities that Ruled the Word by Douglas Wilson attempts to explain the importance and significance of Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York not merely during a specific time period, but their ultimate role in shaping global history.   Wilson gives an overview of each city through a single chapter which highlights successes as well as failures and ultimately provides a primary contribution:

Jerusalem – Spiritual Liberty

Athens – Democracy

Rome – Law and Justice

London – Literacy and Literature

New York – Free Enterprise

Further, he shares the theological significance of each of these cities weaving scripture reference throughout the text.

As someone who rarely reads historically based texts for pleasure reading, I found this book to be an enjoyable,  quick read which provided quite a bit of new information for me.   The use of a conversational tone made the text particularly accessible.  Although I appreciated the attempt, I found the author’s use of humor distracting at times.

Clearly, one cannot have a full understanding of the history of each of these cities (Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York) nor their impact and influence as the result of reading a 200 page book.  That being said, 5 Cities that Ruled the Earth provides a good starting point for further exploration and study.

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given. All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.