This innovative work in comparative urban history explores why outstanding achievements in material and intellectual culture in early modern Europe tended to cluster in certain maritime cities. Patrick O'Brien, his coeditors and eighteen distinguished historians from Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain, and North America, have collaborated to compare economic, architectural, artistic, publishing and scientific achievements in three European cities during their golden ages: Antwerp (c. 1492-1585), Amsterdam (c. 1585-1659) and London (c. 1660-1730). This study offers fascinating insights to scholars and students of economic, social and cultural history.