In the novel that won her the Booker Prize and established her international reputation, Anita Brookner finds a new vocabulary for framing the eternal question "Why love?" It tells the story of Edith Hope, who writes romance novels under a pseudonym. When her life begins to resemble the plots of her own novels, however, Edith flees to Switzerland, where the quiet luxury of the Hotel du Lac promises to resore her to her senses.

But instead of peace and rest, Edith finds herself sequestered at the hotel with an assortment of love's casualties and exiles. She also attracts the attention of a worldly man determined to release her unused capacity for mischief and pleasure. Beautifully observed, witheringly funny, "Hotel du Lac" is Brookner at her most stylish and potently subversive.

Hotel du Lac

One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million people (but only 80% of them Swiss): there's nowhere else in Europe like it. Switzerland may be almost 400 km from the nearest drop of seawater, but it is an island at the center of Europe. Welcome to the landlocked island. Swiss Watching is a fascinating journey around Europe s most individual and misunderstood country. From seeking Heidi and finding the best chocolate to reliving a bloody past and exploring an uncertain future, Diccon Bewes proves that there s more to Switzerland than banks and skis, francs and cheese. This book dispels the myths and unravels the true meaning of Swissness .

Swiss Watching: Inside the Land of Milk and Money

Among Shakespeare's plays, "Hamlet" is considered by many his masterpiece. Among actors, the role of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is considered the jewel in the crown of a triumphant theatrical career. Now Kenneth Branagh plays the leading role and co-directs a brillant ensemble performance. Three generations of legendary leading actors, many of whom first assembled for the Oscar-winning film "Henry V", gather here to perform the rarely heard complete version of the play. This clear, subtly nuanced, stunning dramatization, presented by The Renaissance Theatre Company in association with "Bbc" Broadcasting, features such luminaries as Sir John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Emma Thompson and Christopher Ravenscroft. It combines a full cast with stirring music and sound effects to bring this magnificent Shakespearen classic vividly to life. Revealing new riches with each listening, this production of "Hamlet" is an invaluable aid for students, teachers and all true lovers of Shakespeare - a recording to be treasured for decades to come.

Hamlet

Flip doesn't think she'll ever fit in at the Swiss boarding school. Besides being homesick for her father and Connecticut, she isn't sophisticated like the other girls, and discussions about boys leave her tongue-tied. Her happiest times are spent apart from the others, sketching or wandering in the mountains.

But the day she's out walking alone and meets a French boy, Paul, things change for Flip. As their relationship grows, so does her self-confidence. Despite her newfound happiness, there are times when Paul seems a stranger to her. And since dating is forbidden except to seniors, their romance must remain a secret. With so many new feelings and obstacles to overcome in her present, can Flip help Paul to confront his troubled past and find a future?

And Both Were Young

The Citadel

It stands unconquered, the last great summit of the Alps. Only one man has ever dared to approach the top, and that man died in his pursuit. He was Josef Matt, Rudi Matt's father.

At sixteen, Rudi is determined to pay tribute to the man he never knew, and complete the quest that claimed his father's life. And so, taking his father's red shirt as a flag, he heads off to face the earth's most challenging peak. But before Rudi can reach the top, he must pass through the forbidden Fortress, the gaping chasm in the high reaches of the Citadel where his father met his end. Rudi has followed Josef's footsteps as far as they will take him. Now he must search deep within himself to find the strength for the final ascent to the summit—to plant his banner in the sky.

His father died while trying to climb Switzerland's greatest mountain—the Citadel—and young Rudi knows he must make the assault himself.

Banner in the Sky

No one in the village of Karlstein dares to leave their homes on All Souls' Eve—the night Zamiel the Demon Huntsman comes to claim his prey. 

But the evil Count Karlstein has struck a terrible bargain with Zamiel, and so the lives of his two young nieces, Lucy and Charlotte, are in danger. Their only hope lies with Hildi, a castle maidservant, and her fearless brother Peter. Can they save the girls from their dreadful fate? Only one thing is certain—the Demon Huntsman will not return to his dark wood unsatisfied!

Count Karlstein

It was the tour that changed the way we travel. In the summer of 1863 seven people left London on a train that would take them on a thrilling adventure across the Alps. They were the Junior United Alpine Club and members of Thomas Cook's first Conducted Tour of Switzerland. For them it was an exciting novelty; it turned out to be the birth of mass tourism, and it started with the Swiss.

Best-selling author of "Swiss Watching" Diccon Bewes acquires a copy of Alpine member Jemima Morell's journal and travels from London to Lucerne—and back in time. He brings only the journal and the club's nineteenth-century guidebook to retrace their steps one by one, traveling by train whenever possible. Bewes follows the 1863 expedition, experiencing firsthand through Jemima's journal the original British "holiday" that shaped the future of two disparate nations, one a global monarchy and the other a recovering, struggling republic. Alongside vintage illustrations, Bewes creates a fascinating comparison of how people across the globe explore and vacation today. This is also the story of how a nostalgic tour surprised an expat author, revealing a Switzerland very different from the present—and an unexpected personal connection with the diarist in a startling twist. A perfect read for anyone who seeks an expert blend of context and consequence to their travel writing.

Diccon Bewes became a travel writer via the scenic route of bookselling. After ten years at Lonely Planet and "Holiday" magazine, he decamped to Switzerland, where he has until recently managed the Stauffacher English Bookshop in Bern. Following the success of "Swiss Watching", a Financial Times Book of the Year and international bestseller, he is now a full-time writer.




Slow Train to Switzerland: One Tour, Two Trips, 150 Years - and a World of Change Apart

Why Switzerland?, first published in 1976, offers a unique analysis of the structures that make Switzerland work and provides a short, concise "working model" for the visitor or student. Linking an analysis of the microeconomy to the major features in politics, history, religion and language, it shows how a "bottom up" society has survived in a world of "top down" states. For this new edition Jonathan Steinberg has completely revised and extended his text, and a number of unusual and attractive illustrations have been added.

Why Switzerland?

Rick Steves Switzerland

On the snowy Utah slopes, thirty Secret Service agents are viciously executed and the vacationing president of the United States kidnapped, seemingly by the Fatah, a lethal terrorist organization in the Middle East. But Scot Harvath, surviving agent and ex-Navy SEAL, doesn't believe the Fatah is responsible. 

A shadowy coalition comprises some of the highest-ranking officials in government and business – men who operate above the law, realize the threat Scot poses to their hidden agenda, and will do anything to stop him. Framed for murder and on the run, Scot takes to the towering mountains of Switzerland with beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office. They brave subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus, and the den of notorious professional killers.

The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath, #1)

For those who loved "Grand Days", this is its sparkling sequel, following Edith Campbell Berry through the war years in Geneva at the heart of the League of Nations. Her marriage is falling apart but she is reunited with her enigmatic soulmate Ambrose. Edith is a literary creation to rival a Jane Austen character, and the force of her character, as well as the humour and spirit of the book, power the reader through. The backdrop is not only Geneva, but Australia too, and both are rich with atmosphere.

Dark Palace

Jonathan Hemlock, Professor of Art, world-renowned mountain climber and freelance assassin for the CII. Hemlock is sent to Switzerland on a mission to climb the notorious Eiger peak of the Alps, whose north face has meant death to many climbers. Hemlock's target: one of his three fellow climbers. The only problem is, CII can't tell him which one...

The Eiger Sanction (Jonathan Hemlock, #1)

Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships. Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include * customs, values, and traditions * historical, religious, and political background * life at home * leisure, social, and cultural life * eating and drinking * do's, don'ts, and taboos * business practices * communication, spoken and unspoken

Switzerland - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs  Culture

"Swiss Watching: Inside Europe's Landlocked Island" is a light-hearted yet revealing journey around Europe's most individual country. From seeking Heidi and finding the best chocolate to reliving a bloody past and exploring an uncertain future, Swiss Watching proves that there's more to Switzerland than banks, skis, francs and cheese. One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million people (only 80% of whom are Swiss): there's nowhere else in Europe like it. Switzerland may be surrounded by land, but it is an island at the center of Europe. Welcome to the landlocked island.

Swiss Watching: Inside Europe's Landlocked Island

Quaestor Vexatius Sinustitis, who is about to expose the Roman governor's creative accountancy, has been poisoned. Can Getafix brew an antidote? Only if Asterix and Obelix find a certain flower for the druid's potion in Helvetia. What with bank safes, cuckoo hourglasses, yodelling and holes in the cheese, they're soon on a real Helvetian roll.

Asterix in Switzerland (Asterix, #16)

Life in Switzerland. The not-made-for-TV version. 
 
In 2006, American Chantal Panozzo moved to a spa town near Zurich ready for a glamorous life as an expatriate. She would eat chocolate. She would climb mountains. And she would order cheese in four languages. 
 
Instead, she lived a life more in tune with reality than fantasy. Contrary to popular American belief, Switzerland isn’t just a setting in a storybook called Heidi. It’s a real place where someone with a master’s degree in communications can’t make a phone call, where you can be hired in one language and fired in another, and where small talk doesn’t exist—but phrases like Aufenthaltskategorien von Drittstaatsangehörigen do. 
 
Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I’d Known is a collection of both published (The Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic Glimpse, Chicken Soup for the Soul Books, and Brain, Child) and new essays in which Chantal discovers that no matter how hard she wills her geraniums to cascade properly, she will never be a glamorous American expatriate—or Swiss.

Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I'd Known

For centuries the Alps have seen the march of armies, the flow of pilgrims and Crusaders, the feats of mountaineers, and the dreams of engineers?and some 14 million people live among their peaks today. In "The Alps", Stephen O’Shea takes readers up and down these majestic mountains, battling his own fear of heights to journey through a 500-mile arc across France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia.


O’Shea, whose style has been hailed for its “engaging combination of candid first-person travel writing and absorbing historical narrative” ("Chicago Sun-Times"), whisks readers along more than 2,000 years of Alpine history. As he travels pass-by-pass through the mountains, he tells great stories of those (real and imagined) who have passed before him, from Hannibal to Hitler, Frankenstein’s monster to Sherlock Holmes, Napoleon to Nietzsche, William Tell to James Bond. He explores the circumstances behind Hannibal and his elephants’ famous crossing in 218 BCE; he reveals how the Alps have profoundly influenced culture from "Heidi" to "The Sound of Music"; and he visits iconic sites, including the Reichenbach Falls, where Arthur Conan Doyle staged Sherlock Holmes’s death scene with Professor Moriarty; Caporetto, the bloody site of the Italians’ retreat in World War I; and the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s aerie of a vacation home.


O’Shea delves into Alpine myths and legends, such as the lopsided legs of the dahu, the fictitious goatlike creature of the mountains, and reveals why the beloved St. Bernard dog is so often depicted with a cask hanging below its neck. Throughout, he immerses himself in the communities he visits, engagingly recounting his adventures with contemporary road trippers, watchmakers, salt miners, cable-car operators, and yodelers.

The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond

'A great subject for a cultural anthropologist and Bewes is a perfect guide' "Financial Times", Book of the Year

A brand new edition of the international bestseller, with new sections on the Swiss elections, the Swiss citizenship test and how Brexit has affected Switzerland. 
One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million people (but only 80% of them Swiss): there's nowhere else in Europe like it. Switzerland may be hundreds of miles away from the nearest drop of seawater, but it is an island at the center of Europe. Welcome to the landlocked island. 

"Swiss Watching" is a fascinating journey around Europe's most individual and misunderstood country. From seeking Heidi and finding the best chocolate to reliving a bloody past and exploring an uncertain future, Diccon Bewes proves that there's more to Switzerland than banks and skis, francs and cheese. This book dispels the myths and unravels the true meaning of Swissness.


Swiss Watching, 3rd Edition: Inside the Land of Milk and Honey

Ursli is a little boy who lives in the Swiss Alps. In order to find a big cowbell so that he can lead the spring procession through his village, he goes alone to his family's chalet high up in the mountains. There, he spends a lonely, scary night.

A Bell for Ursli: A Story from the Engadine in Switzerland

"La Place de la Concorde Suisse" is John McPhee's rich, journalistic study of the Swiss Army's role in Swiss society. The Swiss Army is so quietly efficient at the art of war that the Isrealis carefully patterned their own military on the Swiss model.

La Place de la Concorde Suisse

Countless books have been written on the military history of World War II, however astonishingly little information has appeared about the one country that stared the Nazis down and refused to become an accomplice to the horrors of the Third Reich. This book provides an objective, year-by-year account of Switzerland's military role in World War II, including her defensive strategies, details of Nazi invasion plans, and Switzerland's moral, material and humanitarian links to the Allies. Swiss neutrality in World War II has been criticized in recent years, but the country was entirely surrounded by Axis powers and managed, as revealed here, to render considerable assistance to the Allies.

Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality In World War II

Despite its position at the heart of Europe and its quintessentially European nature, Switzerland's history is often overlooked within the English-speaking world. This comprehensive and engaging history of Switzerland traces the historical and cultural development of this fascinating but neglected European country from the end of the Dark Ages up to the present. The authors focus on the initial Confederacy of the Middle Ages; the religious divisions which threatened it after 1500 and its surprising survival amongst Europe's monarchies; the turmoil following the French Revolution and conquest, which continued until the Federal Constitution of 1848; the testing of the Swiss nation through the late nineteenth century and then two World Wars and the Depression of the 1930s; and the unparalleled economic and social growth and political success of the post-war era. The book concludes with a discussion of the contemporary challenges, often shared with neighbours, that shape the country today.

A Concise History of Switzerland

Swisstory: The Untold, Bloody, and Absolutely Real History of Switzerland

When Autumn Carpenter stumbles upon the social media account of the family who adopted her infant daughter years ago, she finds herself instantly drawn into their picture-perfect existence. 
 
From behind a computer screen, Autumn watches Grace's every memory, from birthdays to holidays to bedtime snuggles. But what starts as an innocent fascination spirals into an addictive obsession met with a screeching halt the day the McMullen family closes their Instaface account without so much as a warning. 
 
Frantic and desperate to reconnect with her daughter, Autumn applies for a nanny position with the McMullens, manipulating herself into Grace's life under false pretenses. And it's only then that Autumn discovers pictures lie, the perfect family doesn't exist, and beautiful people? They have the ugliest secrets.

The Memory Watcher

"Eleven Minutes" is the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never find true love, instead believing that “love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer. . . .” A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and fortune.

Maria’s despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness—sexual pleasure for its own sake—or risking everything to find her own “inner light” and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.

Eleven Minutes

Today's Office Looks Like This: 62 unconventional workplaces in Switzerland

Beyond Chocolate: Understanding Swiss Culture

All Along the Rhine: Recipes, Wines and Lore from Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Holland

A novel about survival, self-reliance, and art, by Peter Stamm, finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize

"All Days Are Night" is the story of Gillian, a successful and beautiful TV host, content with her marriage to Matthias, even if she feels restless at times. One night following an argument, the couple has a terrible car accident: Matthias, who is drunk, hits a deer on the wet road and dies in the crash. Gillian wakes up in the hospital completely disfigured. Only slowly, after many twists and turns, does she put her life back together, and reconnects with a love interest of the past who becomes a possible future—or so it seems. In Stamm’s unadorned and haunting style, this new novel forcefully tells the story of a woman who loses her life but must stay alive all the same. How she works everything out in the end is at once surprising and incredibly rewarding.

All Days Are Night

The Rough Guide to Switzerland tells you all there is to know about this beautiful and varied country. The 36-page, full-colour section introduces all of Switzerland''s highlights, from snowboarding in the Alps and sampling swiss wine to the country''s Gothic cathedrals and medieval castles. The guide includes extensive listings of the all the top places to eat, drink and stay, whatever your budget, plus brand-new ''author picks'' to highlight the very best. There is plenty of practical advice on outdoor pursuits, including where to find the best mountain walks and most scenic ski resorts. The guide takes a detailed look at Switzerland''s history, wildlife and culture and comes complete with maps and plans for every region.

The Rough Guide to Switzerland

A Pocketful of Rye

Swiss History in a Nutshell gives you an easy-to-read insight into the most fascinating moments in Switzerland's rich and colourful history - from its cavemen to its conquests, foundation, growth, independence and prosperity. Switzerland's surprising past as a leading military power in Europe - how Swiss democracy matured through several revolutions - the origins of Swiss cultural differences and how they were overcome to create a stable federal republic how Switzerland's direct democracy, consensus politics and legendary good industrial relations were achieved. Cartoons (naughty and nice) illustrate this kaleidoscope of key events that have created Switzerland as it is today.

Swiss History In A Nutshell

A guidebook to the classic Chamonix to Zermatt trek from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn. The 180km Walker's Haute Route crosses 11 passes, gains more than 12,000 metres in height and is a strong contender for the title of Most Beautiful Walk in Europe. The route is described in 14-day stages, with variants and is suitable for walkers with some previous alpine trekking experience. In 2 weeks of mountain travel you will see the greatest collection of 4000 metre peaks in the Alps and visit some of the most spectacular valleys. The guidebook also includes essential practical information on travel to and from Chamonix and Zermatt, as well as information on accommodation in alpine villages and mountain refuges, trekking safety, itinerary planning and how to best plan and prepare for this challenging but rewarding trek.

Chamonix to Zermatt: The Classic Walker's Haute Route (Cicerone Trekking Guides)

Cross-cultural journalist Clare O'Dea goes in search of the truth behind the clichés that clothe modern Switzerland. Did the Swiss really help the Nazis? Are Swiss women living a charmed existence or are they stuck in the past? Are the Swiss crooked bankers? How can you be neutral if you own more guns than almost any other country? And how did these people get so rich?
These questions and more are answered in fast-moving and entertaining chapters that present the Swiss in a new light, making it the perfect resource not only for those living or travelling in Switzerland, but for Swiss readers as well.

The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths

This handy pocket-sized guidebook contains route descriptions for 120 walks and treks in the Valais. This region is home to some of Europe's most dramatic mountains from the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa to Bietschhorn and Grand Combin. From easy valley-bed walks to harder treks across rugged passes over high ridges, there are routes for all abilities.

Switzerland

Hotel du Lac

Anita Brookner

Swiss Watching: Inside the Land of Milk and Money

Diccon Bewes

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

And Both Were Young

Madeleine L'Engle

Banner in the Sky

James Ramsey Ullman

Count Karlstein

Philip Pullman

Slow Train to Switzerland: One Tour, Two Trips, 150 Years - and a World of Change Apart

Diccon Bewes

Why Switzerland?

Jonathan Steinberg

Rick Steves Switzerland

Rick Steves

The Lions of Lucerne (Scot Harvath, #1)

Brad Thor

Dark Palace

Frank Moorhouse

The Eiger Sanction (Jonathan Hemlock, #1)

Trevanian

Switzerland - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs Culture

Kendall Maycock

Swiss Watching: Inside Europe's Landlocked Island

Diccon Bewes

Asterix in Switzerland (Asterix, #16)

René Goscinny

Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I'd Known

Chantal Panozzo

The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond

Stephen O'Shea

Swiss Watching, 3rd Edition: Inside the Land of Milk and Honey

Diccon Bewes

A Bell for Ursli: A Story from the Engadine in Switzerland

Selina Chönz

La Place de la Concorde Suisse

John McPhee

Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality In World War II

Stephen P. Halbrook

A Concise History of Switzerland

Clive H. Church

Swisstory: The Untold, Bloody, and Absolutely Real History of Switzerland

Michael Meister

The Memory Watcher

Minka Kent

Eleven Minutes

Paulo Coelho

Today's Office Looks Like This: 62 unconventional workplaces in Switzerland

Katrin Gygax

Beyond Chocolate: Understanding Swiss Culture

Margaret Oertig-Davidson

All Along the Rhine: Recipes, Wines and Lore from Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Holland

Kay Shaw Nelson

All Days Are Night

Peter Stamm

The Rough Guide to Switzerland

Matthew Teller

A Pocketful of Rye

A.J. Cronin

Swiss History In A Nutshell

Grégoire Nappey

Chamonix to Zermatt: The Classic Walker's Haute Route (Cicerone Trekking Guides)

Kev Reynolds

The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths

Clare O'Dea

Walking in the Valais - Switzerland: 120 Walks and Treks

Kev Reynolds

The Swiss Alpine Pass Route - Via Alpina Route 1: Trekking East to West across Switzerland (International Trekking)

Kev Reynolds

The Expert Guide to Your Life in Switzerland Export Edition: Advice from 15 Experts in Switzerland

Diccon Bewes