This lively survey tells the story of a major New Zealand city, the capital of Canterbury province and the South Island's largest metropolitan centre. Why was the city established in the middle of a swamp? What was it like to live in Christchurch in the 1850s, the 1870s or the 1940s? What has changed, what has disappeared, and what has survived from the past? Who were the people who made Christchurch what it is today? What makes Christchurch distinctive among New Zealand's cities? These and many other questions are answered in this highly readable account.