This is the first history of Stockholm's development from the city's unique seventeenth-century redevelopment and extension to the postmodern, postindustrial trends of today. While the city's planners borrowed the ideas from abroad at certain periods, they provided the lead for the rest of the world at others. For much of the mid-twentieth century Stockholm was the model for Europe and elsewhere. Written by an acknowledged authority on the city and Swedish architecture and planning generally, with a wide range of illustrations, this book provides a much needed explanation of one of Europe's great cities.