The Stories Old Towns Tell: A Journey Through Cities at the Heart of Europe (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780300281064)

A journey through Europe's old towns, exploring why we treasure them--but also what they hide about a continent's fraught history

"[A] fascinating chronicle."--Benjamin Balint, Wall Street Journal

Historic quarters in cities and towns across the middle of Europe were devastated during the Second World War--some, like those of Warsaw and Frankfurt, had to be rebuilt almost completely. They are now centers of peace and civility that attract millions of tourists, but the stories they tell about places, peoples, and nations are selective. They are never the whole story.

These old towns and their turbulent histories have been key sites in Europe's ongoing theater of politics and war. Exploring seven old towns, from Frankfurt and Prague to Vilnius in Lithuania, the acclaimed writer Marek Kohn examines how they have been used since the Second World War to conceal political tensions and reinforce certain versions of history.

Uncovering hidden stories behind these old and old-seeming fa?ades, Kohn offers us a new understanding of the politics of European history-making--showing how our visits to old towns could promote belonging over exclusion, and empathy over indifference.

Author: Marek Kohn
ISBN-10: 0300281064
ISBN-13: 9780300281064
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 02/25/2025
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback