Often called the most "Southern" of Southern cities, Charleston was one of the earliest urban centers in North America. It quickly became a boisterous, brawling sea city trading with distant ports, and later a capital of the Lowcountry plantations, a Southern cultural oasis, and a summer home for planters. In this city, the Civil War began. And now, in the twentieth century, its metropolitan area has evolved into a microcosm of "the military-industrial complex."

This book records Charleston's development from 1670 and ends with an afterword on the effects of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, drawing with special care on information from every facet of the city's life—its people and institutions; its art and architecture; its recreational, social and intellectual life; its politics and city government.

The most complete social, political, and cultural history of Charleston, this book is a treasure chest for historians and for anyone interested in delving into this lovely city, layer by layer.