A J Youngson 
Making of Classical Edinburgh [PDF ebook] 
With Photographs by Edwin Smith

This famous study of the planning, financing and building of the New Town in Edinburgh brings to life one of the most remarkable urban expansion programmes ever undertaken. A. J. Youngson brings to life the vigour of the planning debates, the fundraising schemes, the administrative and legislative infrastructure of planning, the construction of public buildings as poles of attraction for speculative building, and all the hopes, quarrels, victories and civic bankruptcy that went into this great experiment.Superbly illustrated with photographs by acclaimed photographer Edwin Smith, along with a selection of contemporary images and a preface by Colin Mc Lean, this book is a classic work of economic and social history, and a fascinating account of the shaping of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.