Webster has adopted a novel and extremely interesting approach in this book, which discusses the siting of the major cities of Australia. Tony has blended a plethora of rich historical accounts with a detailed discussion of the controlling local features of water supply, physiography, landscape and geology to provide a comprehensive and thought provoking account of the establishment and growth of our capital cities. I can highly recommend this book to all who are interested in Australian settlement history and the factors that affected the establishment of our major urban centres.