The Golden Maze. A Biography Of Prague

Cover Type: Hardcover
Book Condition: Very Good
Jacket Condition: Good
Publisher: ABC Books
Publisher Place: New South Wales
Publisher Year: 2020
Edition: First Edition

Description: 580 pages. Jacket is in general good condition. There is some light reading wear present, but still a presentable copy. Book is in Very good condition throughout.

Publishers Description: Beloved ABC broadcaster and bestselling author of Ghost Empire and Saga Land, Richard Fidler is back with a personally curated history of the magical city that is Prague.In 1989, Richard Fidler was living in London as part of the provocative Australian comedy trio The Doug Anthony All Stars when revolution broke out across Europe. Excited by this galvanising historic, human, moment, he travelled to Prague, where a decrepit police state was being overthrown by crowds of ecstatic citizens. His experience of the Velvet Revolution never let go of him.Thirty years later Fidler returns to Prague to uncover the glorious and grotesque history of Europes most instagrammed and uncanny city: a jumble of gothic towers, baroque palaces and zig-zag lanes that has survived plagues, pogroms, Nazi terror and Soviet tanks. Founded in the ninth Century, Prague gave the world the golem, the robot, and the worlds biggest statue of Stalin, a behemoth that killed almost everyone who touched it.Fidler tells the story of the reclusive emperor who brought the worlds most brilliant minds to Prague Castle to uncover the occult secrets of the universe. He explores the Black Palace, the wartime headquarters of the Nazi SS, and he meets victims of the communist secret police. Reaching back into Pragues mythic past, he finds the citys founder, the pagan priestess Libussa who prophesised: I see a city whose glory will touch the stars.Following the story of Prague from its origins in medieval darkness to its uncertain present, Fidler does what he does so well - curates an absolutely engaging and compelling history of a place. You will learn things you never knew, with a tour guide who is erudite, inquisitive, and the best storyteller you could have as your companion.PRAISE FOR GHOST EMPIRE:Fidler displays great charm in the telling of his tale, spicing it with delicious gossip. - New York Times Book Review... thanks to the stylish cleverness of an exceptionally curious and talented man, we can feast on what strange magic the city brought-and still brings today-to the world beyond. I am speechless with admiration. - Simon WinchesterFidlers story leaves its readers with a sense of faith in the renewing, illuminating, social powers of historical narrative. - Sydney Morning Herald

ISBN: 9780733335266