Amsterdam Tales

Description

In this volume Paul Vincent presents a compelling collection of prose fiction, memoirs and anecdotes centring on Amsterdam from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century. His selection offers a rare insight into the history and culture of the city. The subjects range from Rembrandt to the persecution of the Jews in World War 2, from barricades in a working-class district during the Depression to a writer's unhealthy obsession with a massage parlour. These eighteen newly-translated tales give the reader, and the traveller, a tantalizing glimpse of the Amsterdam that lies beyond the tourist guidebooks.

Author description

Paul Vincent studied Modern Languages at Cambridge University and Dutch at Amsterdam. From 1967 to 1989 he was Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer, in Dutch, first at Bedford College and afterwards at University College London. Since 1989 he has worked as a freelance translator.