Cityscopes – serie

Berlin is a party in a graveyard. It is Europe’s youth capital, and its guilty war conscience. It is a disputed construction site, built on the ruins of regimes. Today’s diversity – refugees, immigrants, arty expats, East and West – emerges from a history of violence. Berlin is as cutting-edge and contemporary as it is wary of its extreme past.Berlin is a comprehensive short history and portrait of the German capital today. The story of Berlin’s vagaries over nine centuries – from a dry place in a bog to the control centre of modern Europe – is expertly portrayed by historian Joseph Pearson. The dynamic present is a palimpsest on this unsettling past. A long-time flâneur of Berlin’s streets, Pearson explores how the city’s history is visible today in bombsites, museums and industrial club spaces (and a lake hosting a man-nibbling monster).In this book, we find that elements of the city that for some can be unnerving – its emptiness, its provincialism, its ramshackle industrial eclecticism, its sexual freedoms, its confrontation with a murderous past – are precisely what give the city its charge. Pearson poses provocative questions as he reveals the city’s many layers and varied neighbourhoods. He argues, ultimately, that Berlin’s centrality in European and cultural affairs is only just beginning to be felt.

Explore behind the tourist facade of the world’s most visited city. In this book, Paris-based writer and Invisible Paris blogger Adam Roberts provides a concise and informative portrait of the iconic metropolis. He uncovers the story of how a provincial backwater rose up to become the richest and most powerful city in Europe, and a world leader in fashion, the arts and gastronomy – and why it continues to dazzle today.In short, illustrated chapters, Roberts casts his eye over 2,000 years of turbulent history, from a time when roaming Celtic tribes first set up camp to the present day: he covers the rise and fall of royalty, uprisings and invasions, destruction and magnificent redevelopments, and he explores the city’s contributions to the world, including Gothic architecture, city planning, mammoth museums and urban art. A section on the city today –  perceptive essays and observations on topics ranging from Parisian Sundays to the inside workings of a historic hotel – reveal the twenty-first-century city.Roberts also offers travellers a diverse selection of tips on places to visit, from a vintage sweet shop to a museum of romantic life, a relaxing hidden garden in a hospital, and a converted hairdressing salon where you can play table tennis. Recommended for those planning a trip to the city or simply for anyone who loves Paris, this book offers a unique overview of one of the world’s most fascinating cities.

City of cities, the modern world’s first great metropolis, London has shaped everything from clothing to youth culture. It has a unique place in the world’s memory, even as its role has changed from the capital of the planet to its playground, and as its lived history has mutated into the heritage industry.Londoner Phil Baker explores the city’s history, and the London of today, balancing well-known major events with more curious and eccentric details. He reveals a city of almost unmatched historical density and richness. For Baker, London turns out to be Gothic in all senses of the word, enjoyably haunted by its own often bloody past. And despite extensive redevelopment, as he shows in this engaging and insightful book, some of the magic remains.