When the World Trade Center was erected at the Hudson River's edge, it forever changed the character of the American city. In Divided We Stand, cultural critic Eric Darton chronicles the life of this billion-dollar building, using it as a lens through which to view the broader twentieth-century trend toward urbanized, global culture. Drawing on political and social history, Darton pioneers a new hybrid genre of architectural biography, revealing the convergence of four volatile elements in contemporary urban life: super tall buildings, financial speculation, globalization, and terrorism.

Now with a new introduction and afterword, Divided We Stand remains the definitive work on the birth and life of the World Trade Center.