<jats:p>The monograph is concerned with the population and buildings of five big cities of the Polish Crown (Warsaw, Cracow, Poznan, Lublin and Lviv) in the light of taxes imposed on their inhabitants. The analysis of the state of the tenements and wealth inequalities indicates the consequences of the destruction during the so-called Deluge in the economic history of the Polish Commonwealth and explores the differences between the cities before and after the Swedish invasion.</jats:p>