The last palace : Europe's extraordinary century through five lives and one house in Prague
Eisen, Norman L., 1961-2018
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When Norman Eisen moved into the US ambassador's residence in Prague, returning to the land his mother had fled after the Holocaust, he was startled to discover swastikas hidden beneath the furniture. From that discovery unspooled the captivating, twisting tale of the remarkable people who lived in the house before Eisen. Their story is Europe's, telling the dramatic and surprisingly cyclical tale of the endurance of liberal democracy: the optimistic Jewish financial baron who built the palace; the conflicted Nazi general who put his life at risk for the house during World War II; the first postwar US ambassador struggling to save both the palace and Prague from communist hands; the child star- turned-diplomat who fought to end totalitarianism; and Eisen's own mother, whose life demonstrates how those without power and privilege moved through history. The Last Palace chronicles the upheavals that have transformed the continent over the past century and reveals how we never live far from the past.
Main title:
Author:
Imprint:
London : Headline, 2018.©2018.
Collation:
ix, 403 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
The golden son of the Golden City -- The king of coal -- Palace neverending -- The final child -- An artist of war -- The most dangerous man in the Reich -- Is Prague burning? -- "If you're going through hell, keep going" -- "He who is master of Bohemia is master of Europe." -- Lush life -- Small salvations -- "Never, ever, ever, ever" -- "Nothing crushes freedom like a tank" -- A revolutionary production -- On the good Battleship Lollipop -- "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
ISBN:
9781472237293 (paperback)
Dewey class:
943.712
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
367216
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penrith | Nonfiction | 943.712 LAS | Available |