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Review: Lionel Gossman, Basel In The Age Of Burckhardt. A Study In Unseasonable Ideas, Benn Williams

Swiss American Historical Society Review

"Monotonie sans egale" or sanctuary for "unbridled thinkers"?

Being human and prone to forming first impressions, this reviewer glanced at the full title of the text under review, and saw red flags rising. First, in the spirit of full disclosure, this non-Swiss reviewer has only "visited" Basel once: an unpleasant-and unexpected-wintry layover courtesy of a French rail strike. Second, seeing "unseasonable ideas" in the same title as anyone other than Nietzsche raises one's hackles. Third, while the works of Burckhardt enjoy renewed interest among art historians and publishers, he remains largely ignored by "new" cultural and intellectual historians and humanists …

Off To Dallas, Felix P. Bentz

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The nine short stories which you will read below represent "Chapter V" of my Memoirs. I began to write down the story of my life in 1991 after finishing my last project as a consultant. The initial reason for this was to tell my children and grandchildren about their ancestors and what it was like to be growing up in Switzerland.