The Last Palace: Europe's Extraordinary Century Through Five Lives And One House In Prague

Author: Norman Eisen

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $32.99 AUD
  • : 9781472237293
  • : Headline Publishing Group
  • : Headline Book Publishing
  • :
  • : 0.51
  • : August 2018
  • : ---length:- '23.4'width:- '15.3'units:- Centimeters
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • : books

Special Fields

  • :
  • :
  • : Norman Eisen
  • :
  • : Paperback
  • : 1809
  • :
  • :
  • : 940.5
  • : very good
  • :
  • : 352
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
Barcode 9781472237293
9781472237293

Description

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.

Reviews


Who would have thought a book about a house could be so good? I found it to be quite interesting. Both a personal account and an in-depth history book about  Czechoslovakia (later Czech Republic). Anyone who has ever wondered what historic homes could tell us should definitely read this book!



Alicia, The Book Grocer