All cities change and evolve as they grow. As new buildings go up, others come down.

But it's hard to conceive the magnitude of what came down in Melbourne in the 20th century, with so many of its most glorious buildings allowed by state and local governments to be reduced to rubble.

Melbourne looking east on the banks of the Yarra in 1959. Credit:Royal Historical Society of Victoria

A new book makes conceiving the scale of the loss a lot easier: Remembering Melbourne might more easily have been titled Lost Melbourne.

Within its 366 pages are literally hundreds of heritage buildings that went under the wrecker's ball.