Rethinking the Polis: Tomorrow's Cities in Between Politics and Architecture: Elemental, by Alejandro Aravena et al., London, Phaidon, 2018, pp. 256, €75.00: "Retrospective Peter Barber." In Architectural Review, by Tom Cordell, July/August 2019 (hardback). ISBN: 9780714878034.: Against the Grain. A Deep History of the Earliest States, by C. James Scott, Boston, Yale University Press, 2017, pp. 336, $26.00 (paperback). ISBN: 9780300182910.: Building and Dwelling. Ethics for the City, by Richard Sennett, London, Penguin, 2019, pp. 368, £10.99 (paperback). ISBN: 9780374538217.: Soft City: Building Density for Everyday Life, by David Sim, Washington/Covelo/London, Island Press, 2019, pp. 256, $35.00 (paperback). ISBN: 9781642830187.: Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities, by Vaclav Smill, Boston, MIT Press, 2019, pp. 664, $39.95 (hardback). ISBN: 9780262042833