High Above San Francisco

Cosmopolitan and nonconformist by history and vocation, San Francisco's spirit is matched by its man-made and natural beauty. It looks out over the Pacific toward the East, surrounded by a glittering bay and its own majestic monuments. These superb aerial photographs enable the reader to take in all of this and much more. Everything is spectacular, and from any angle the view is surprising. San Francisco's architecture mirrors its history from the Spanish missions to its modern steel bridges and skyscrapers. An itinerary from above, illustrated by an original text and superb photographs, this book explores the many corners of the city and its surrounding area. Seen from the air, for example, the city's Victorian houses climb and descend the hills that face onto the water, that line the enormous open spaces of Golden Gate Park and the Presidio, and that, from Alamo Square, herald the imposing downtown area dominated by the 853-ft, Transamerica skyscraper. The ocean is a constant presence that lives in symbiosis with America's most progressive metropolis, a city famous for its gay and artistic communities.