| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Synopsis
Located at the very center of Europe, Prague has been on the frontline of international political, intellectual, religious and cultural conflicts for more than six centuries. Invaded and occupied by the Habsburgs, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Nazis, and then Communist Russia, the city's identity is shaped by a long experience of foreign domination and a strong sense of martyrdom. A treasure house of Gothic, baroque and modernist architecture, Prague is also a city of icons and symbols: statues, saints and signs reveal a turbulent history of religious and cultural conflict. As Kafka's nightmare city and home of the Good Soldier evejk, the Czech capital also produced two of the twentieth century's emblematic writers. Richard Burton explores this metropolis of theatrical allusion, in which politics and drama have always been intertwined. His interpretation of the city's cultural past and present encompasses opera and rock music, puppetry and cinema, surrealism and socialist realism. Looking at Prague's world-famous landmarks and lesser-known sites, his reading of the city through its writing and iconography is both perceptive and challenging.* THE CITY OF ARTISTS AND WRITERS: The Castle and Kafka, Ha'ek and Kundera; music from Smetana to the Plastic People of the Universe; modernism and cubism; political theater and the playwright-president Vaclav Havel. * THE CITY OF TYRANNY AND RESISTANCE: Jan Hus and anti-Catholic revolt; subjugation and the rise of Czech nationalism; Germans, Czechs and Jews; "Prague Spring" 1968, Charter 77 and the "Velvet Revolution" of November 1989. * THE CITY OF MAGIC, MURDER AND MYTH: Medieval alchemy and astrology; the myth of the Golem, the ghetto and anti-Semitism; living puppets, robots, and a tradition of defenestration.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Let us begin where most visits to Prague either begin or end: on Old Town Square, Staromestske namesti. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Let us begin where most visits to Prague either begin or end: on Old Town Square, Staromestske namesti. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Richard Burton's Prague book is a rich and impressively broad work on a very fascinating topic. It covers history, literature, music and politics as well as the every day life of Prague. Burton's main focus is on the city's 20th century history, a period of disasters and suffering but also of great cultural production, political drama and artistic innovation. It also deals sharply with the present situation, the pros and cons of westernization and capitalism. The book is cool and elegant, it reveals the vast knowledge of it's author without becoming heavy or ostentatious.
I cannot think of a better way to prepare oneself for a visit to Prague!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Excellent book for the first-time visitor or resident or anyone between.
9 May 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Excellent, well-written book about one of the great cities of the world. Orderly, logical structure for the first-time visitor as well as for those who visit Prague often or live there. Not only a good writer but an accurate, non-revisionist historian. A pleasure to read and to share with others.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
More than a travel guide
13 Mar 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This unusual book covers Prague from a geographical perspective but does so much more through the addition of literature, politics, architecture, music, and the arts. I was amazed by the depth of this book and planned on contacting the author to express my appreciation. Unfortunately, he has passed on to my great disappointment.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Cultural History
- Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism
- Books > Science & Nature > Earth Sciences & Geography > Education > Higher Education
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Human Geography
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia > Russia
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > Czech Republic
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > Russia
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
