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The Grand Spas of Central Europe: A History of Intrigue, Politics, Art, and Healing
David Clay Large
€ 60.41
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Description for The Grand Spas of Central Europe: A History of Intrigue, Politics, Art, and Healing
Hardback. In this irresistible tour through the grand spas of Central Europe, noted historian David Clay Large traces their history from classical antiquity to the present. He vividly shows that they were not only centers of healing but hotbeds of artistic creation, nests of social intrigue, and gilded venues for high-level politicking. Num Pages: 476 pages, 1 maps. BIC Classification: 1DF; HBJD; HBTB. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 235 x 158 x 32. Weight in Grams: 762.
The Grand Spas of Central Europe leads readers on an irresistible tour through the grand spa towns of Central Europe-fabled places like Baden-Baden, Bad Ems, Bad Gastein, Karlsbad, and Marienbad. Noted historian David Clay Large follows the grand spa story from Greco-Roman antiquity to the present, focusing especially on the years between the French Revolution and World War II, a period in which the major Central European Kurorte ( cure-towns ) reached their peak of influence and then slipped into decline. Written with verve and affection, the book explores the grand spa towns, which in their prime were an equivalent of today's major medical centers, rehab retreats, golf resorts, conference complexes, fashion shows, music festivals, and sexual hideaways-all rolled into one. Conventional medicine being quite primitive through most of this era, people went to the spas in hopes of curing everything from cancer to gout. But often as not curists also went to play, to be entertained, and to socialize. In their heyday the grand spas were hotbeds of cultural creativity, true meccas of the arts. High-level politics was another grand spa specialty, with statesmen descending on the Kurorte to negotiate treaties, craft alliances, and plan wars. This military scheming was just one aspect of a darker side to the grand spa story, one rife with nationalistic rivalries, ethnic hatred, and racial prejudice. The grand spas, it turns out, were microcosms of changing sociopolitical realities-not at all the timeless oases of harmony they often claimed to be. The Grand Spas of Central Europe holds up a gilt-framed but clear-eyed mirror to the ever-changing face of European society-dimples, warts, and all.
Product Details
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2015
Condition
New
Number of Pages
476
Place of Publication
Lanham, MD, United States
ISBN
9781442222366
SKU
V9781442222366
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15
About David Clay Large
David Clay Large is a senior fellow at the Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, and professor of history at the Fromm Institute, University of San Francisco. He has also taught at Smith College, Yale University, and Montana State University. Among his many books are Berlin, Nazi Games: The Olympics of 1936, and Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph at the Olympic Games. Large divides his time between San Francisco and Bozeman, Montana.
Reviews for The Grand Spas of Central Europe: A History of Intrigue, Politics, Art, and Healing
[Clay Large's] account is spirited and entertaining.
The New York Review Of Books
With a focus on the grand spas of Germany and Habsburg Austria, the author of this book provides an engrossing and entertaining history of their development as centers of healing and as hubs of social, cultural, and political maneuvering. His anecdotes about famous cultural figures taking the waters lend fresh insight into their influence and personalities.
Historian
With scintillating wit and a storyteller's elan, David Large is the perfect guide to the colorful history of Europe's spa culture. This is serious scholarship leavened with delicious gossip about spa celebrities, from Beethoven and Tolstoy to Karl Marx and Mark Twain.
Adrienne Mayor, author of The Poison King and The Amazons In this learned, thoroughly researched, and elegant study, the distinguished Central European historian David Large begins our grand tour of spas with Greek and Roman bathing rituals, carrying his fascinating story into the turn of the twentieth century.
John Merriman, Charles Seymour Professor of History, Yale University There is no better, more mischievous, more companionable guide to German history than David Clay Large. Once again he has written a book that draws on deep expertise, deep research, a keen knowledge of social texture, and yet reads like a guilty pleasure. The history of the spas reveals modern Europeans wrapped only in towels.
David Quammen, author of The Song of the Dodo and Spillover This absorbing book is just as diverting and delightful as the places it chronicles once were. Large writes with verve and style, and he knows how to put vivid characters and vignettes to the service of important historical points. An altogether arresting and rewarding overview of modern European history through an unconventional and entertaining lens.
Peter Hayes, Northwestern University
The New York Review Of Books
With a focus on the grand spas of Germany and Habsburg Austria, the author of this book provides an engrossing and entertaining history of their development as centers of healing and as hubs of social, cultural, and political maneuvering. His anecdotes about famous cultural figures taking the waters lend fresh insight into their influence and personalities.
Historian
With scintillating wit and a storyteller's elan, David Large is the perfect guide to the colorful history of Europe's spa culture. This is serious scholarship leavened with delicious gossip about spa celebrities, from Beethoven and Tolstoy to Karl Marx and Mark Twain.
Adrienne Mayor, author of The Poison King and The Amazons In this learned, thoroughly researched, and elegant study, the distinguished Central European historian David Large begins our grand tour of spas with Greek and Roman bathing rituals, carrying his fascinating story into the turn of the twentieth century.
John Merriman, Charles Seymour Professor of History, Yale University There is no better, more mischievous, more companionable guide to German history than David Clay Large. Once again he has written a book that draws on deep expertise, deep research, a keen knowledge of social texture, and yet reads like a guilty pleasure. The history of the spas reveals modern Europeans wrapped only in towels.
David Quammen, author of The Song of the Dodo and Spillover This absorbing book is just as diverting and delightful as the places it chronicles once were. Large writes with verve and style, and he knows how to put vivid characters and vignettes to the service of important historical points. An altogether arresting and rewarding overview of modern European history through an unconventional and entertaining lens.
Peter Hayes, Northwestern University