CITIES FROM THE SKY - AN AERIAL PORT RETROSPECTIVE OF URBAN AMERICA

Dozens of oil derricks in 1930s Long Beach, Calif.; the boardwalk in 1952 Ocean City, N.J.; shot after shot of pre- and postwar Manhattan and environs in Cities from the Sky: An Aerial Portrait of America, Wired contributing writer and urbanist Thomas J. Campanella collects 125 lush duotone photos of spectacular midcentury cityscapes, taken by the Fairchild Aerial Survey Corporation. The foreword by University of Pennsylvania urbanism professor Witold Rybczynski (City Life) extols the photos' humanist virtues, comparing them to Lorenzo's painting of Siena.