Calcutta: The Living City incorporates eighty-six essays covering virtually every aspect of life in the city as it was and as it is. It covers Calcutta's history and social evolution, its civic development and economy, and its varied artistic, and cultural life. Describing notable people, places, and institutions, this two-volume account brings the city to life in full detail.

Volume I covers the origins of the city and its social, cultural, and economic development up to the beginning of the twentieth century. Volume II offers an account of Calcutta in the twentieth century and makes predictions regarding future development.