The book reviews scholarly literature and archival sources including maps and diagrams, to better situate Siena's achievement in urban history and broadens our understanding of medieval technology and urban life.

This is the first monograph in English on the topic of the sienese acqueducts. The book reviews scholarly literature and archival sources including maps and diagrams, to better situate Siena's achievement in urban history and broadens our understanding of medieval technology and urban life. Michael P. Kucher argues that urban patronage of anonymous craftsmen provided the cultural foundations for the careers of better known engineers like Francesco di Giorgio and Leonardo da Vinci. The book joins the rapidly expanding field of works that focus on urban technology to shed new light on daily life in the medieval city.