Combining world culture, history, geography, and architecture, this visually stunning look at ancient cities around the globe takes readers to such places as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, and the mysterious sculptures of Angkor Wat. Perfect for fans of This Is How We Do It and Atlas Obscura.

What would it be like if you lived a thousand years ago? To pass through the Hanging Gardens of Babylon on your way home? Or gaze at the stars from your cave dwelling in Mesa Verde?

On mountaintops, deserts, and the banks of rivers, ancient cities that once thrived have become lost to time. But in their ruins, we can find clues of the past and the extraordinary lives their residents lived. All it takes is a simple question: What was life like before?

Beautiful illustrations, masterfully crafted from layers of cut paper, ask readers to spend a day in the footsteps of someone from thousands of years ago.

Giles Laroche, a master of cut-paper relief sculptures, captures stories from history that can't be told with photographs. Reviewers have called his art "truly masterful," "mind-bogglingly good," and "a visual feast." He lives in Salem, MA.