The last palace : Europe's turbulent century in five lives and one legendary house

Eisen, Norman L. 1961- (author.). Hartman, Laura (illustrator.).

Summary: When Eisen moved into the US ambassador's residence in Prague, he was startled to discover swastikas hidden beneath the furniture. As he unspooled the twisting, captivating tale of some of the remarkable people who had called this palace home, he began to chronicle the upheavals that transformed the continent over the past century. He introduces us to optimistic Jewish financial baron, Otto Petschek, who built the palace after World War I; Rudolf Toussaint, the cultured, compromised German general who occupied the palace during World War II; Laurence Steinhardt, the first postwar US ambassador; and Shirley Temple Black, an eyewitness to the crushing of the 1968 Prague Spring who returned as US ambassador in 1989.

Record details

ISBN: 0451495799
ISBN: 9780451495792
ISBN: 0451495780
ISBN: 9780451495785
Physical Description: ix, 403 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm
print
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Crown, [2018]
Copyright: ©2018

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-392) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

The golden son of the Golden City -- The king of coal -- Palace neverending -- The final child -- An artist of war -- The most dangerous man in the Reich -- Is Prague burning? -- "If you're going through hell, keep going" -- "He who is master of Bohemia is master of Europe." -- Lush life -- Small salvations -- "Never, ever, ever, ever" -- "Nothing crushes freedom like a tank" -- A revolutionary production -- On the good Battleship Lollipop -- "The past is never dead. It's not even past."