From the Introduction:

“A great city is twice built: once of wood, brick, and stone and once as an act of the imagination. The imagined city is configured in words and pictures, and exists in a more enduring realm.

“Montreal belongs among the twice built cities. For all its latter-day troubles … it is a city bountifully, often brilliantly imagined. From the first description of the mountain at its centre, written before the city was conceived, to the most recent postmodern incarnation, Montreal continues to fascinate the beholder.”