Another excellent volume in the Great Cities series, this one describes the history and culture of one of Europe's unique places, Amsterdam. The author, who grew up in he town, delves into its medieval origins, its days of glory as tyhe centre of world shipping between the East and the West, and its later slide into middle age as the focus shifted to the British and French centres of power. Somewhat like Venice (which also has its own volume in the series), Amsterdam's special feature of having been reclaimed from a shallow sea, imposed specific demands on its architects and builders, such as foundations based on deep pilings driven into the ground; to save space, they adopted a style of narrow and tall buildings, with artistic gables on their facades to give a picturesque touch. The city was well known for its extreme tolerance, and was the favorite refuge of all sorts of dissenters, including Protestants and Jews driven out by the Spanish Inquisition and Counter-reformation, free thinkers, communists, and Jews and others hiding from the Nazi forces in attics, cupboards, false ceilings, and son (remenber Ann Frank, who unfortunately was discovered and deported before the end of the war). ( )