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Book Review: Geneva, Zurich, Basel: History, Culture And National Identity, Marion S. Miller

Swiss American Historical Society Review

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 …