Peter Kent's brilliant cross-sections show how an early settlement changes into a bustling, modern-day city. The lively, warm and friendly illustrations are packed with absorbing and eye-opening details, and clearly show how new buildings are constructed on the rubble of the old. Eagle-eyed readers will have hours of fun spotting the descendants of one particular family though the centuries, and seeing how once-grand building become buried and how some structures remain through the centuries. Brand-new artworks and spreads reveal the prehistoric origins of the settlement, its 21st-century development and even give a glimpse into the far future, when ice sheets threaten to overwhelm the city Grade 4–8—This intriguing introduction to urban archaeology features cross-sections of the same location in an imaginary European city from the Stone Age to the 21st century. Changes in daily life aboveground are fascinating, and what happens in the subterranean realm is equally engaging. As one civilization displaces another, skeletons, artifacts, and garbage form layer upon layer of an unwritten record. Kent supplies brief overviews of each era depicted for quick snapshots of history. In addition to glimpses of the same street in different centuries, spreads offer detailed depictions of a medieval silver mine, construction of the London Underground, and secret bunkers built during the Cold War. These interludes remind readers that past construction is evident beneath our feet and provide the materials studied by archaeologists. Whether students flip through the pages quickly or painstakingly compare certain elements in the underground layers from one color cartoon illustration to the next, they will gain a deeper appreciation for the way human settlements change over time. Anne Millard's A Street Through Time (DK, 1998) takes readers on another journey through urban history, although that volume lacks the underground and archaeological components of Kent's work.— Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Kent offers a quick tour of modern civilization as seen through the archaeological lens of an imagined European city in this detail-rich picture book. Beginning in the Stone Age, each spread uses the same vantage point to show a cutaway snapshot of what the landscape and city would look like in each era. Structures get built up, then fall into layers of debris as the time frame moves forward and the base level of the city creeps steadily upward. It’s a winning format, and Kent knows how to provide the mini-dramas (a peasant being shoved by a nobleman into a stream in the sixteenth century becomes a skeleton buried beneath the stream in the seventeenth) that make it such a fun, flip back-and-forth experience. Short paragraphs accompany each spread to give broad generalizations about evolving building techniques and shifts in the daily lives of the cartoony inhabitants. A final spread envisions a distant future where a half-page of rubble lies buried beneath a sere landscape, ready for alien archaeologists to dig into and puzzle over. Grades 2-4. --Ian Chipman “[T]his fascinating, accessible title introduces. . . valuable clues. . . [uses] cheerfully busy drawings and detailed cross-sections [that] will reward readers with new discoveries at each turn.” ― Horn Book “With a bit of a "Where's Waldo" flavor, this book takes the reader on a delightful jaunt over a patch of grouond as one small English town thrives only to be replaced by another built upon it ruins. . . . the author entertains and educates with cutaway drawings of Iron Age villages and Roman settlements, medieval towns and 16th century cities, and on through the years. . . . It will leave young readers asking questions, and that's always a good thing.” ― Library Media Connection “With a detailed description of archeological tools and methods, as well as intricate illustrations of city life and structures, this fascinating book helps children to understand how cities evolved and how the well-being of city inhabitants improved over time. . . . Added into the mix are a number of important lessons in economics, including the invention of money during the Iron Age to help facilitate trade . . .” ― Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences “This intriguing introduction to urban archaeology features cross-sections of the same location in an imaginary European city from the Stone Age to the 21st century. . . . daily life aboveground [is] fascinating . . . the subterranean realm is equally engaging. . . . Whether students flip through the pages quickly or painstakingly compare certain elements in the underground layers from one color cartoon illustration to the next, they will gain a deeper appreciation for the way human settlements change over time.” ― School Library Journal “[This] detail-rich picture book . . . [is] a winning format, and Kent knows how to provi