Book Review: Geneva, Zurich, Basel: History, Culture and National Identity

Authors

Marion S. Miller

Keywords

Zurich, Geneva, Switzerland, Republic of Canton and Ticino, Biro

Abstract

The idea of identity with Europe is central to the studies of the cities in the two volumes under review. As Carl Schorske suggests in his introduction to Geneva, Zurich, Basel: while Switzerland voted against European unity, these three cities, despite diverse but strong local identities, endorsed the unity concept when a referendum was undertaken in 1992. In a similar vein, James Cracraft, in an essay which surveys the historical background of Peter the Great' s rationale for the building of St. Petersburg in the eighteenth century, is hopeful that the city, reclaiming its original name after the demise of the Soviet Union, will equally reassert the cultural and political role that it played as Peter's famous "window" to the Europe of the west. European culture was evident in all four cities whether in forms of humanism within the Swiss cities or scientific and technological advances in architecture which informed the building of St. Petersburg.

Recommended Citation

Miller, Marion S. (1995) "Book Review: Geneva, Zurich, Basel: History, Culture and National Identity," Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 31: No. 3, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol31/iss3/4