Western Europe

"Dramatisk fortættede, skæbnesvangre timer, hvor en varig afgørelse fremtvinges på een dag, i een time, ofte i et enkelt minut, er sjældne i en enkeltpersons liv og sjældne i historiens løb." - Fra bogens forord Det er skildringer af den slags øjeblikke, der udgør Stjernestunder, og alle er de fortalt med Stefan Zweigs vid og kunstneriske snilde, der i denne bog på elegant vis forenes med en næsten journalistisk præcision.

An Landschaft und Kultur ist der Camino del Norte entlang der spanischen Nordküste so vielfältig wie kaum ein anderer Weg. Die Pilgertour führt durch Naturschutzgebiete, über kilometerlange Strände und in mittelalterliche Städte. Doch Vorsicht vor den Pilgern! Man lernt Menschen kennen, denen man im realen Leben nie begegnen würde. Die Wanderung beginnt in Begleitung eines belgischen Ex-Soldaten, der als Türsteher eines Swingerclubs arbeitet. Viele spanische Junkies und Chicas sind unterwegs sowie Pilger aus Frankreich, Deutschland und Dänemark.

After his surrender to the Royal Navy, Napoleon became the object of massive English public interest. He would live out his last years on the island of St. Helena without ever admitting to being a prisoner. This close study of Napoleon in captivity attempts to reconstruct an authentic portrait of the fallen emperor by examining contemporary documents and records of public opinion.

Drie koningen uit het Huis Oranje-Nassau regeerden tussen 1813 en 1890 over Nederland: Willem I (1813-1840), Willem II (1840-1849) en Willem III (1849-1890). Hun historische reputaties lopen uiteen. Willem I, als enige van de drie opgenomen in de Historische Canon van Nederland, geldt als een van de grondleggers van onze staat. De Koning-Koopman zou zijn onderdanen hebben opgestoten in de vaart der volkeren; het is wat veel eer. Willem II wordt herinnerd als de Held van Waterloo. In 1848 zou hij zijn conservatieve denkbeelden abrupt hebben ingeruild voor liberale overtuigingen.

Es sind unerhörte Episoden, die Ulrich Wickert aus Frankreichs Geschichte und Gegenwart zu erzählen weiß. Er spannt einen weiten historischen Bogen und lässt es sich nicht nehmen, eine Fülle von komischen wie nachdenklich stimmenden Erfahrungen auszubreiten. Mit dem ihm eigenen Witz und mit pointierter Ironie wägt Wickert ab, was die Franzosen so liebenswert macht und weswegen man ihrer bisweilen überdrüssig ist. "Vom Glück, Franzose zu sein" - lauter wahre Begebenheiten, die so unglaublich klingen, als handelten sie von einem unbekannten Land: von Frankreich.

The Freedom Line traces the thrilling and true story of Robert Grimes, a 20-year-old American B-17 pilot whose plane was shot down over Belgium on October 20, 1943. Wounded, disoriented, and scared, he was rescued by operatives of the Comet Line, a group of tenacious young women and men from Belgium, France, and Spain who joined forces to recover Allied aircrews and take them to safety. Brought back to health with their help, Grimes was pursued by bloodhounds, the Luftwaffe security police, and the Gestapo.

Considering the suspicions, jealousies, bigotry, and crass opportunism inherent whenever one power occupies another, Golden Ghetto: How the Americans and French Fell in and out of Love During the Cold War pieces together an improbable tale of how fear and skepticism were crushed by trust and friendship.

In 2018, the world will be commemorating the centenary of the end of the First World War. In many ways, 1918 was the most dramatic year of the conflict. After the defeat of Russia in 1917, the Germans were able to concentrate their forces on the Western Front for the first time in the war, and the German offensives launched from March 1918 onward brought the Western Allies close to defeat. Having stopped the German offensives, the Entente started its counterattacks on all fronts with the assistance of fresh US troops, driving the Germans back, and by November 1918 the Central Powers had been defeated.

In this engaging history, James MacGregor Burns brings to vivid life the two-hundred-year conflagration of the Enlightenment, during which audacious questions and astonishing ideas tore across Europe and the New World, transforming thought, bringing down governments, and inspiring visionary political experiments that would ultimately reach every corner of the globe. Unlike most historians, Burns pays particular attention to America's intellectual revolution, beginning and ending his story on American soil.

Pozvánka do míst, kde autorka našla nový domov, přináší popisy toskánských městeček, zvyků, umění a všemožných vůní vycházející z místních receptů Vydala se do Itálie, kde spolu s přítelem zakoupili opuštěnou usedlost a našli v ní domov. Výročí dvou dekád strávených v Bramasole přivedlo autorku k dalším zápiskům o jejím sžívání se s toskánskou krajinou, historií, kuchyní a životním stylem. Co ji přimělo k navázání až překvapivě hlubokého vztahu s místní krajinou, jejími obyvateli a způsobem života?

The 20th century in Europe was an urban century: it was shaped by life in, and the view from, the street. Women were not liberated in legislatures, but liberated themselves in factories, homes, nightclubs, and shops. In Streetlife, Leif Jerram presents a totally new history of the 20th century, with the city at its heart, showing how everything distinctive about the century, from revolution and dictatorship to sexual liberation, was fundamentally shaped by the great urban centres which defined it.

The Age of Atlantic Revolution was a defining moment in western history. Our understanding of rights, of what makes the individual an individual, of how to define a citizen versus a subject, of what states should or should not do, of how labor, politics, and trade would be organized, of the relationship between the church and the state, and of our attachment to the nation all derive from this period (c. 1750-1850).

Für alle Dänemarkurlauber, -liebhaber und Auswanderer. Locker und leicht beschreibt Tim Uhlemann seine ­fulminante Auswanderung ins kleine Königreich ­Dänemark und verbindet dabei gnadenlose Beobachtungsgabe mit Selbstironie und einem großen Herzen: eine nahezu ­unschlagbare Mischung. Ein Streifzug durch die bunte dänische Welt, Trübsinn und Langeweile haben hier keine Chance.

Bert Trautmann is famed as the goalkeeper who broke his neck in an FA Cup final and played on. But his early life is no less extraordinary: he grew up in Nazi Germany and fought for the Germans in World War Two. In 1945 he was captured and sent to a British POW camp where, for the first time, he saw a better way of life. He embraced England as his new home and before long became an England football hero. This is his extraordinary story.

In an era of seemingly instant change, it's easy to think that today's revolutions - in communications, business, and many areas of daily life - are unprecedented. Today's changes may be new and may be happening faster than ever before. But our ancestors at times were just as bewildered by rapid upheavals in what we now call “networks” - the physical links that bind any society together.

Com estimem, els catalans? En l'imaginari col·lectiu han quedat enregistrades un munt de llegendes que en parlen. Històries fantàstiques que narren amors entre gegants i donzelles, dones d'aigua i hereus de masies, pastors i sirenes. Fruit de la passió d'aquests darrers amants nasqué l'Empordà. Sirenes que sovint eren dones desterrades del món aspre dels homes i que trobaren l'amor lliure al mar. No són poques, tampoc, les llegendes d'amor entre dones i pirates, entre sarraïns i cristianes, la qual cosa demostra que l'afecte pot fer superar qualsevol barrera.

When they fell in love in 1928, Rika and Waldemar could have not been more different. She was a thirty-seven-year-old Dutch-born mother, estranged from her husband. He was her immigrant boarder, not yet twenty, and a wealthy Surinamese descendant of slaves. The child they have together, brown skinned and blue eyed, brings the couple great joy yet raises some eyebrows. Until the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands explodes their promising life. What unfolds is more than the astonishing story of a love that prevailed over convention. It’s also the quest of a young boy.

Most come on a holiday for a few days, a week perhaps, maybe a little longer, but I longed for more (desiderio di più): more of the language, more of the culture, more of the people. Italians have a way of making something more exotic out of life, more adventurous, lovelier, and more relaxing. In Italy, to me, even hanging laundry is beautiful, as it stretches from end to end between buildings. As I take photos in this grand city, I try to capture the endless majesty of her churches, monuments, and people. It is becoming therapeutic.

Mit Autor und Moderator Nilz Bokelberg auf Entdeckungstour in seiner Heimatstadt Köln. Warum lieben die Kölner ihren Dom so sehr? Wie feiert man Karneval richtig? Welches Kölsch sollte man trinken und wo schmeckt es am besten? Wo und mit wem flirtet es sich besonders gut? Und woher kommt eigentlich die gute Laune der Kölner? Diese und weitere wichtige Fragen beantwortet Nilz Bokelberg auf humorvolle Art, nimmt Hörerinnen und Hörer mit auf Streifzüge durch die rheinische Metropole und führt zu seinen persönlichen Lieblingsorten: eine sehr unterhaltsame Mischung aus Anekdoten und Beobachtungen, Fun Facts und Tipps.

Sir Walter Ralegh was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth. She showered him with estates and political appointments. He envisioned her becoming empress of a universal empire. She gave him the opportunity to lead the way. In Walter Ralegh, Alan Gallay shows that, while Ralegh may be best known for founding the failed Roanoke colony, his historical importance vastly exceeds that enterprise. Inspired by the mystical religious philosophy of hermeticism, Ralegh led English attempts to colonize in North America, South America, and Ireland.