<DIV><DIV>Alexandria was one of the most important cities of the ancient world, with achievements in the arts, sciences, and religion. Niall Finneran seeks to understand the wider picture, the longer period of evolution as a city, as both an urban concept and a literary and historical ideal. He does this by bringing together the disciplines of archaeology, anthropology, history, geography, oral history, art, and literature. As a result, Alexandria is seen as a unique example of African urbanism, an Egyptian city facing the wider Mediterranean world, which became an archetype for social, religious, and cultural cosmopolitanism.</DIV></DIV>