In one paragraph, Jacobs is talking about the Mycenaeans; just before that the difference between the shift away from agrarian lifestyles in the west as compared with the abrupt colonial imposition of postagrarian culture. In the next she drops this gem:

At a given time it is hard to tell whether forces of cultural life or death are in the ascendancy. Is suburban sprawl, with its murders of communities and wastes of land, time, and energy, a sign of decay? Or is rising interest in means of overcoming sprawl a sign of vigor and adaptability in North American culture? Arguably, either could turn out to be true. “Dark Age Patterns” Dark Age Ahead (p169-70)

June’s over. So is Dark Age Ahead. I’m sure I’ll be turning back to it as I work through The Death and Life of Great American Cities and her other works. I hope I’m at the height of my craft at age 87. If anyone claims Jacobs peaked in 1961 at Death and Life, surely they’ve never read this great tome:

• Stern voice
• Able to knit together a complicated, but comprehensive and readable narrative on potentially divisive topics
• Wry
• Able to sow seeds of optimism in the midst of pessimistic and dire warnings
• Shorter than either Diamond’s Collapse or Guns, Germs and Steel (you might not need to read those if you’re satisfied with what you learn about his works here)
• Brilliant capstone
• Too much already proven true only 4-5 years since publication