Farewell to Prague is a memoir set against the turbulent events of the Nazi era in Germany and World War II England. It is the story of a girl who, at the age of six, witnesses a murder being committed by German Storm Troopers. From that moment, the happy life she has known disintegrates. Her family escapes to Prague, where they create a new life. Six years later, the Germans march into Prague. Now she has to escape to England alone and on foot. She walks across the snow-covered Tatar Mountains. By train, fishing boat, and ship, she finally manages to get to England. She comes of age there during the bombing of London. When the war ends, she immediately returns to the Continent to discover the fate of her family. Farewell to Prague is a gripping true story that will fascinate and inspire readers of all ages.

Since its foundation in the ninth century Prague has punched way above its weight to become a fulcrum of European culture. The city’s most illustrious figures in the fields of music, literature and film are well known: Mozart staged the premiere of his opera Don Giovanni here; in the early twentieth century Franz Kafka was at the forefront of the city’s intellectual life, while later writers such as Milan Kundera and film directors such as Milos Forman chronicled Prague’s fortunes under communism. Yet the city has a cultural heritage that runs far deeper than Kafka museums and Mozart-by-candlelight concerts. It encompasses the avant-garde punk group Plastic People of the Universe, the “new wave” film directors of the 1960s who made their striking movies in the city’s famed Barrandov studios, and artists such as Alfons Mucha and Frantisek Kupka whose revolutionary canvases fomented Art Nouveau and abstract art at the dawn of the twentieth century. Beyond art galleries, concert halls and cinemas the history of Prague has been one of invasion and sometimes brutal oppression. The great German chancellor Otto von Bismarck once commented that “whoever controls Prague, controls mid-Europe” and a succession of imperialist powers have taken this advice to heart, most recently Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Opposition has taken many forms, from the religious reformer Jan Hus in the fifteenth century to playwright and dissident Václav Havel, whose elevation to the Czechoslovak presidency in 1990 made him a symbol of the rebirth of democracy in Eastern Europe. In this book Andrew Beattie also reflects on the modern city, where bold new buildings such as Frank Gehry’s “Dancing House” rub shoulders with monuments from the Gothic and Baroque eras such as the Charles Bridge and St. Vitus’ Cathedral. He considers the suburbs too, home to world-renowned soccer and ice hockey teams, gleaming shopping centers and grim communist-era apartment blocks that are often home to Vietnamese, Romany and Muslim minority groups who live in a city with a growing international outlook. The Prague he reveals is an increasingly confident and diverse city of the new Europe.

A treasure house of Gothic, baroque and modernist architecture, Prague is also a city of icons and symbols: statues, saints and signs reveal a turbulent history of religious and cultural conflict. As Kafka's nightmare city and home of the Good Soldier Svejk, the Czech capital also produced two of the twentieth century's emblematic writers. Richard Burton explores this metropolis of theatrical allusion, in which politics and drama have always been intertwined. His interpretation of the city's cultural past and present encompasses opera and rock music, puppetry and cinema, surrealism and socialist realism.

The Rough Guide to Prague is the ultimate travel guide to this beautiful city. With clear maps of every neighbourhood and detailed coverage of all the city's attractions, this book will help you discover the best Prague has to offer. Written in Rough Guides' trademark honest and informative style, The Rough Guide to Prague features detailed practical advice on what to see and do plus up-to-date reviews of the best hotels, bars, clubs, shops and restaurants for all budgets.Dozens ofphotographs illustrate Prague's highlights, including Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge and theBaroque Old Town Square, and there are full-colour features on the city's stunning Art Nouveau architecture and its world-famous beer and pubs. Easy-to-use maps and expert adviceensure you don't miss a thing. Make the most of your holiday with The Rough Guide to Prague.

The fully updated and redesigned ninth edition of The Rough Guide to Prague - now in full colour throughout - is the definitive guide to this beguiling city, with its stunning architecture, turbulent history and top-notch art collections. Read expert background on everything from the enormous Prague Castle complex to relaxing Vltava cruises, and find comprehensive information on the best hotels, pubs, clubs, shops and restaurants for all budgets. Now available in ePub format. The introduction will help you choose where to go and what to see, inspired by dozens of stunning photos. The Things Not To Miss section runs through all the must-sees, while the Itineraries guide you around the city's highlights. Navigation through the book and on the ground is aided by clear colour maps with every chapter. Each one is keyed with all the accommodation, eating and drinking options, nightlife venues and shops that are reviewed in detail in our Listings chapters. You'll also find practical advice on a selection of day-trips from Prague including the Gothic town of Kutná Hora, thought-provoking Terezín and the magnificent Karlštejn Castle. And if you're after fast-fix 'Top 5 boxes' that pick out the highlights you won't want to miss, The Rough Guide to Prague won't let you down! Make the most of your time on EarthTM with The Rough Guide to Prague.

This detailed handbook provides in-depth coverage of all aspects of Prague, past and present, including extensive accounts of palaces, churches & museums, details on the city's history, art and architecture and reviews of the best places to stay and eat.

Chancellor Rieger is leaving office. But does leaving office necessarily mean that he, his mistress and his extended family have to leave the state villa, which has been their home for years? While his former secretary, and the former secretary to his former secretary, grapple with the mechanics of change and his family prepare to vace an uncertain future, the chancellor himself considers his legacy amid visits from journalists, an infatuated student and his arch-rival and possible successor, Patrick Klein. With echoes of both King Lear and The Cherry Orchard, Vaclav Havel's Leaving addresses the themes of change, dispossession and the transfer of power from one generation to the next. The play received its English-language world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in September 2008. Leaving is Vaclav Havel's first play since he was propelled to political office in 1989.