Sketches from Life: The Autobiography of Lewis Mumford : The Early Years

by Lewis Mumford

Book by Mumford, Lewis

Genres: Biography

500 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian and philosopher of technology and science. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a tremendously broad career as a writer that also included a period as an influential literary critic. Mumford was influenced by the work of Scottish theorist Sir Patrick Geddes.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent, well-written autobiography that covers Mumford's life up until World War II. Anyone with a serious interest in Mumford should enjoy it. It is also interesting as an account of the mindset of the generation that came to maturity after World War I. As a fan of Mumford's writing it was particularly interesting to get an explanation of how his famous intellectual eclecticism developed--city planning, history of technology,anthropology, literary criticism, cultural history, architecture, and more. Amazingly, Mumford did not have a college degree,and his lack of academic affiliation, which leads to 'departmentalization' of thought, enabled him to follow his interests wherever they took him.