Book description
Prague is the magic capital of Europe. Since the days of Emperor Rudolf
II, 'devotee of the stars and cultivator of the spagyric art', who in
the late 1500s summoned alchemists and magicians from all over the world
to his castle on Hradcany hill, it has been a place of mystery and
intrigue. Wars, revolutions, floods, the imposition of Soviet communism,
or even the depredations of the tourist boom after the 'Velvet
Revolution' of 1989, could not destroy the unique atmosphere of this
beautiful, proud and melancholy city on the Vltava. John Banville traces
Prague's often tragic history and portrays the people who made it, the
emperors and princes, geniuses and charlatans, heroes and scoundrels,
and paints a portrait of the Prague of today, revelling in its newfound
freedoms, eager to join the European Community and at the same time
suspicious of what many Praguers see as yet another totalitarian
takeover. He writes of his first visit to the city, in the depths of the
Cold War, when he engaged in a spot of art smuggling, and of subsequent
trips there, of the people he met, the friends he made, the places he
came to know. John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He
is the author of thirteen novels, including THE BOOK OF EVIDENCE, which
was shortlisted for the 1989 Booker Prize and KEPLER, which won the
Guardian Prize for Fiction. His most recent novel, SHROUD, is out in
paperback this year. He lives in Dublin.
