The New York Times Book Review, Larry Wolff
Peter Demetz, an emeritus professor of German and comparative literature at Yale, who left Prague as a young man in 1949, has written a book about his native city in an attempt to fathom the full complexity of the cultural forces at play during the last millennium, from erotic passions to linguistic alienations.


From Booklist
Readers who have visited Prague, one of the most gorgeous cities in Europe, may wish now, after having combed travel guides before their trip, to follow up with some reading on Prague's history; but unless they are serious about learning the subject, this book is best left alone. On the other hand, readers other than casual ones will find the development of Prague absorbingly chronicled here. This "history of a European city built over many centuries by Czechs, Germans, Jews, and Italians" presents both essential and colorful detail of the evolution of the kingdom of Bohemia, from mythical origins to Austrian domination to the post^-World War I flowering of independence and democracy. Demetz writes of such interesting personalities as King Charles IV, who put Prague on the map; Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, odd and fascinating; Jan Hus, religious reformer; and Thomas Masaryk, internationally esteemed president of the first Czech republic. Of course, history buffs who have never been to Prague will still relish what is offered here. Brad Hooper


From Kirkus Reviews
A very interesting overview of key periods in the four- millennia-old history of central Europe's great ``gateway'' city (one of the meanings of the Czech Praha), which has also served as a bridge between the Slavic region to the east and the Germanic and Latin areas to the west. A Prague-born and -raised literary and intellectual historian, Demetz traces the enormous changes the city underwent between the Middle Ages and the eve of WW II. (Strangely, he does not extend his story to encompass either the brief ``Prague Spring'' of 1968 or the ``velvet revolution'' of 1989 that, with amazing swiftness, brought about communism's collapse.) Demetz is particularly interesting on the revolt led by followers of the martyred Jan Hus, a precursor to Luther, in the early 15th century, and on how the city affected, and sometimes dazzled, the host of literary and other creative figures who lived there or passed through, from Goethe to Andr‚ Breton. He also captures repeated moments of tension, and rather more uncommon ones of harmony, between the city's two large ethnic communities: Germans and Czechs. Both groups periodically turned violently against the city's third great community, the Jews, who also provided a disproportionate share of cultural and scientific leadership. Demetz's style is both richly anecdotal and well grounded in a wide range of secondary sources, and he does an excellent job of balancing political and cultural history. (As a city ``insider,'' Demetz seems particularly knowledgeable about Prague's neighborhoods and architecture.) However, he does have a propensity to overwhelm the reader with myriad names and, on occasion, to become bogged down in narrative details. In general, however, this is a fine introduction to a city that, like Rome or Jerusalem, has equally compelling legendary and actual histories. (maps) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"Demetz focuses on the dark and disturbing aspects of the city's history, as well as on its golden glories...With great erudition and profound engagement, [he] has made it possible for us to come closer to understanding Prague."-Larry Wolff, The New York Times Book Review

"Demetz seems to reveal in the multifariousness of his native ground...[and] gives the flowering of that diversity its full due...A fluid chronicle."-Frederic Morton, Los Angeles Times Book Review



Review
"Demetz focuses on the dark and disturbing aspects of the city's history, as well as on its golden glories...With great erudition and profound engagement, [he] has made it possible for us to come closer to understanding Prague."-Larry Wolff, The New York Times Book Review

"Demetz seems to reveal in the multifariousness of his native ground...[and] gives the flowering of that diversity its full due...A fluid chronicle."-Frederic Morton, Los Angeles Times Book Review



Review
"Demetz focuses on the dark and disturbing aspects of the city's history, as well as on its golden glories...With great erudition and profound engagement, [he] has made it possible for us to come closer to understanding Prague."-Larry Wolff, The New York Times Book Review

"Demetz seems to reveal in the multifariousness of his native ground...[and] gives the flowering of that diversity its full due...A fluid chronicle."-Frederic Morton, Los Angeles Times Book Review



Book Description
Prague is at the core of everything both wonderful and terrible in Western history, but few people truly understand this city's unique culture. In Prague in Black and Gold, Peter Demetz strips away sentimentalities and distortions and shows how Czechs, Germans, Italians, and Jews have lived and worked together for over a thousand years. .



Card catalog description
Every year Prague attracts thousands of enthusiastic visitors with its Old World charms. For a millennium this beautiful city in the heart of Central Europe, with its ancient townships set on hills and in valleys overlooking a strategic river, has been at the core of everything both wonderful and terrible in Western history. Prague in Black and Gold strips away the sentimental distortions in a brilliant account that clarifies Prague's true place in world civilization. Throughout, Demetz shows how Czechs, Germans, Italians, and Jews have lived and worked together in Prague for a thousand years - and what their peaceful coexistence can teach us in these days of increased nationalism and xenophobia.


About the Author
Peter Demetz, Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature at Yale University, was born in Prague.

FROM THE PUBLISHER