City of lions
£12.99
The Ukranian city of Lviv’s many names (Lviv, Lvov, Lwow, Lemberg, Leopolis) bear witness to its conflicted past – it has, at one time or another, belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland, Russia and Germany, and has brought forth numerous famous artists and intellectuals. ‘My Lwow,’ Jozef Wittlin’s short 1946 treatise on the city he left in 1922, is a wistful and lyrical study of an electrifying cosmopolis, told from the other side of the catastrophe of the Second World War. Philippe Sand’s essay provides a parallel account of the city as it is today: the cultural capital of Ukraine, its citizens played a key roled during the Orange Revolution, and its executive committee declared itself independent of the rule of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. ‘City of Lions’ includes both old black-and-white photographs showing Lviv during the first half of the 20th century, and new photos.
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“A loving, sensuous, but also gently ironic reconstruction of a lost city” – LA Review of Books
A timely reissue of the classic portrayal of the Ukrainian city of Lviv by 2 authors in 2 acts, separated by time and circumstance
With an illuminating preface by Eva Hoffman and stunning new photographs by Diana Matar, City of Lions is a powerful and melancholy evocation of Ukraine in the twentieth century, with a special resonance for today.
Lviv, Lwów, Lvov, Lemberg. Known by a variety of names, the City of Lions is now in western Ukraine. Situated in different countries during its history, it is a city located along the fault-lines of Europe’s history.
City of Lions presents two essays, written more than half a century apart – but united by one city.
Józef Wittlin’s lyrical paean to his Lwów, written in exile, is a deep cry of love and pain for his city, where most people he knew have fled or been killed.
Philippe Sands’ finely honed exploration of what has been lost and what remains interweaves a lawyer’s love of evidence with the emotional heft of a descendant of Lviv.
| Weight | 0.147 kg |
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| Dimensions | 19.7 × 13 × 1.2 cm |
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| Cover | Paperback |
| Pages | 176 |
| Language | English |
| Edition | |
| Dewey | 947.79 (edition:23) |
| Readership | General – Trade / Code: K |
