Description
Book SynopsisIn this volume Paul Vincent presents a compelling collection of prose fiction, memoirs and anecdotes centring on Amsterdam from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century. His selection offers a rare insight into the history and culture of the city. The subjects range from Rembrandt to the persecution of the Jews in World War 2, from barricades in a working-class district during the Depression to a writer''s unhealthy obsession with a massage parlour. These eighteen newly-translated tales give the reader, and the traveller, a tantalizing glimpse of the Amsterdam that lies beyond the tourist guidebooks.
Table of ContentsGerard Brandt: Vondel in Hiding Arnold Houbraken: Rembrandt Catches a Pupil Red-Handed J. Colerus: Spinoza is Banned from the Jewish Community J.C. Nomen: Peter the Great as a Ship's Carpenter W. Otto: An Opponent inveighs against the Tram Herman Heijermans: Amstel Jacob Israël de Haan: The Black Cat Anonymous: Barricades in the Jordaan Frans Pointl: Amsterdam 1945-1946 Simon Carmiggelt: Itchy Feet Remco Campert: Single to Amsterdam Abel J. Herzberg: Letter to my Grandson Anton Valens: Goldfish Pieter Olde Rikkert: Who's Afraid of Allah Akbar? Sanneke van Hassel: He Directs the Traffic Thomas Heerma van Voss: Massage Parlour Margriet de Moor: A Stroke of Luck Robert Anker: Pain in the Spleen
