Political Landscapes of Capital Cities

 Using the methodology presented in Adam Smith’s The Political Landscape: Constellations of Authority in Early Complex Politics, this group of art historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists investigates the transformation of natural landscape into ideologically defined capital cities in Political Landscapes of Capital Cities (University Press of Colorado). The essays look at cities such as Bangkok, Cusco, and Rome, drawing on architectural, cultural, historiographical, and anthropological studies, and ultimately confirm that political authority is profoundly spatial. Bogdanović is an associate professor of architectural history at Iowa State University.