Full Description
In 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.
Contents
Gerard 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
