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The Last Palace: Europe's Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House, by Norman Eisen
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Review
A Publishers Weekly, BookPage, and Pen America Best Book of 2018“A deft and fascinating narrative…The Last Palace is steeped in politics, military history, architectural lore and anecdotes… Mr. Eisen’s easy, fluid style and the richness of his material make for very pleasurable historical reading.” —Wall Street Journal“The book’s main characters are captivating. The palace itself has a ghostly allure.” —The Economist“Meticulous… fascinating… Reading this book, you are reminded of the many missed opportunities that the United States and other Western allies had to encourage and assist democracy in Central Europe. It is not clear that we have learned from history as we are once again confronting nationalist, nativist and anti-democratic politicians and movements backed or amplified by Russia in Europe and beyond.” –Washington Post“Yields illuminating insights on some of the twentieth century’s major dramas: the things that might have happened but didn’t, the importance of particular personalities, and the possibilities and limits of diplomacy in the face of power…Through his interweaving of the personal and the political, [Eisen] enlarges and enlivens our understanding of one small country’s confrontation with history, and of a past that matters to us all.” –The Times Literary Supplement“Engrossing... This action-packed yet lyrically written page-turner confers a fascinating human understanding of Europe’s past and present.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)“Eisen casts each successive caretaker of the palace as uniquely heroic and in so doing writes a wonderfully human history.” —Booklist (starred) “Timely and engaging... a marvelous and original work of history... Eisen’s terrific book reminds us that unknown people do remarkable things all the time.” —The American Interest“Norman Eisen has written an enthralling history of a palace and its very real ghosts. By telling the story of the Prague mansion where he resided as America’s ambassador, Eisen provides a poignant reflection on the haunting twists of the past century, including his own very American family tale.” —Walter Isaacson“Moving, engaging, and elegantly written, The Last Palace wears its erudition lightly, casts its radiant intelligence fearlessly into the darkest corners of the twentieth century and, effortlessly, reliably, breaks your heart again and again.” —Michael Chabon“Combining both the personal and the historical, Norman Eisen’s remarkable book transports us into the battle for democracy through the lives of people who fought to save it and those who would seek to destroy it. The Last Palace is not only a first-rate work of history, but a call to action written at a time of urgent need.” —Madeleine Albright“At a time when we find ourselves newly nostalgic for courageous public officials and American leadership on behalf of human rights, Eisen has written a pearl of a book. Using an ornate palace in Prague as the backdrop for his fast-paced narrative, Eisen tells the tale of the last stormy century through the eyes of several vibrant characters who helped shape it — from a stubborn businessman who, Willy Wonka-like, builds an implausibly ornate palace as war clouds loom; to Shirley Temple Black, the Czech-American envoy who acts decisively in the side of dissidents during the Velvet Revolution; to Eisen himself, who, as Obama’s ambassador to the Czech Republic, raises his voice on behalf of human rights amid growing populism and extremism. The Last Palace is a great read and a stirring reminder of the importance of decency in public life.” —Samantha Power “As America’s Ambassador in Prague, Norman Eisen had an extraordinary relationship with the Czech Republic and its history: his mother said the Nazis took her family out in boxcars and her son came back on Air Force One. The Last Palace combines human drama with geopolitical and historical sweep and does it with evident love and painstaking investigation.” —John Kerry“Norman Eisen pulls back the curtains to reveal history’s secrets in this rich, personal, and wise book.” —Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money“What a revelation! With this moving memoir and history, Norman Eisen enters the front rank of writers. A truly riveting read.” —David Axelrod, author of Believer“Enchanting and fascinating, The Last Palace is a splendid journey through a century of modern European history, and a love letter to liberal democracy. From the adventures of an obsessive baron to the anti-Communist resistance of ambassador-actress Shirley Temple Black to his own tenure as Barack Obama’s envoy to Prague, Norman Eisen brings the inhabitants of a storied residence, and their tumultuous times, to life.” —Chris Whipple, author of the New York Times bestseller The Gatekeepers“Eisen has written a book rich with detail, in spellbinding prose. The Last Palace reads like a novel—a page-turner— beautifully intertwining the compelling stories of families and individuals to tell a stirring story of the twentieth century. The story is centered around a remarkable palace in Prague, but the story of the house is in fact the story of tragedy, cruelty, genocide, courage and its lack, from the 1920s through the Second World War and the Holocaust, the Prague Spring and brutal Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the country’s subsequent freedom and its aftermath, up to the present day. I came to the book expecting a memoir, but The Last Palace is far more than that.” —Norm Ornstein “The Last Palace is a great piece of work: a compelling story and so elegantly written. A wonderful read.” —David Corn“A well-told story for readers interested in Czechoslovakia, its creation, its fall to fascism and then communism, and rescue from both.” —Kirkus Reviews “The history of a remarkable mansion and its times…this fascinating work will appeal to those interested in 20th century history.” —Library Journal
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About the Author
NORMAN EISEN is a senior fellow at Brookings and a CNN commentator and chairs the watchdog group CREW. He served as US ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014, and as President Obama’s ethics czar from 2009 to 2011. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and many other publications. The Last Palace is his first book.
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Product details
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Crown; First Edition, First Printing edition (September 4, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451495780
ISBN-13: 978-0451495785
Product Dimensions:
6.4 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.6 out of 5 stars
54 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#40,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
"The Last Palace" tells the story of Eastern Europe, more specifically Czechoslovakia (later the Czech Republic) in a unique way through the story of a very large house that was build by a very assimilated Jewish man in the late 1920's and early 1930's as fascism was on the rise. It seems clear that there were two groups of people in Prague who hated the house, the anti-Semites who hated anything that was built by someone Jewish and everyone else who hated the monstrosity. Overlaying this story is the story of the author's mother who grew up outside of Prague in an Orthodox Jewish family who it seems had few survivors after the Holocaust. The author describes through subterfuge of the US ambassador immediately at the end of World War II how the house became the property of the US government and the official home of the ambassador (which he eventually was, as well under, President Obama). A major cameo role is that of the late Shirley Temple Black who was also for a time the US ambassador in Prague. The story is told with appropriate detail and interest - even telling us of the role of the Nazi leader in Czechoslovakia in preserving the house (a good Nazi, or perhaps not among the worst?). The only thing lacking from this what is essentially a biography of a house, seemingly the last such house build in Europe, hence the title of the book, would have been more pictures of the actual house and its contents, ideally in color. Highly recommended for many reasons, not the least of all, is a look of how the highly assimilated and wealthy Jews were also struck down by the Holocaust. His mother's thoughts on her native country when he was appointed ambassador there certainly provide a bit of levity wrapping around a certain truth.
The city of Prague is geographically in the middle of what we used to call "Eastern Europe". The city, now the capital of the Czech Republic, has long been a magical, mystical place and its history is pretty much the history of the whole area. I am half-Czech, like former US Ambassador Norman Eisen, but my family immigrated to the US three or four generations ago. He has a more immediate connection with the country as his mother was a survivor of the Holocaust. Eisen's mother left Czechoslovakia in Hitler's railroad cars as a young woman and her son returned as the United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic in the Obama Administration.Norman Eisen has written an unbelievably interesting book about one house, two families, three US ambassadors, and countless others who were involved in the last 100 years of history. He takes the reader through four - or is it five? - political systems which controlled and, in some cases, oppressed the Czech people.Many people reading this review will know about the famous house in the Czech/Moravian city of Brno. Known as the Vila Tugendhat, the Mies-designed house was built in the late 1920's by a wealthy Jewish family, the Tugendhats. The house is now a Unesco World Heritage site and was the subject of a work of fiction, "The Glass Room", by British author Simon Mawrer. But less well-known is a fabulous palace built in Prague around the same time, by Otto Petschek. Like the Tugendhats, the Petschek family fled Europe in the 1930's. The palace was left behind and was eventually used by the United States as an official residence both before WW2 and after. During the war, the house was used by a German general, Rudolf Toussaint.Eisen writes about Toussaint and the German occupation, post-WW2 ambassador Laurence Steinhardt, who tried to settle the Russian/US/Czech political and military crunch , and lastly, Shirley Temple Black. Black was in Prague during the 1968 "uprising" and returned in the late 1980's, presiding over the Velvet Revolution as our ambassador. Scattered through the book is the story of Frieda Eisen, her family, and her recollections of the Czechoslovakia she knew...and the one she was afraid of. Norman Eisman is a masterful writer. His book, while long, was a pleasure to read. I hope it's issued also in Audible.
Told through the history of one fascinating building, now the American Ambassador residence in PragueHighly evocative - brought back many memories of my days in Eastern Europe in the 90’sEisen’s mother must be pleased too, that her son succeeded in posting her much-needed warnings
This eye-opening view of an historical monument in Prague is riveting. The Shirley Temple Black episode is incredible, and the author's deft weaving of his own personal story through the last century in Prague is really something to behold. One of my favorite reads in a long time!
I enjoyed reading this outstanding book detailing the history of the Palace built by a German- Jewish business man and banker. Following the owners escape,the palace had different occupants including Germans, Soviets, and after the war it became an American Embassy. The author also discussed important events of Czechoslovakia and the Czek Republic from 1918 to 2014, combined with the life of his mother who survived the holocaust,went to Israel and ended up in America. I highly recommend this book,even for those (like me) who are familiar with the turbulent history of Czechoslovakia.
This book is fascinating from start to finish. Both a personal account, a page-turner and an in-depth history book. All of the chapters are full of new information and new accounts about the history of Czechoslovakia. I could not stop reading.
Half way through and have yet to read personal accounts or recollections of life during this turbulent and important time. The long section about Rudolf Toussaint had little to do with the house other than as one of its inhabitants. No incentive to continue. An inert house can only be interesting 358 pages if it's telling a story about human lives. Very disappointing as I had high hopes for a genre I normally love.
Interesting portrayal of a country through the history of one of its finer mansionsSurprisingly fails to mention that Prague's old Jewish quarter remained intact rather than was destroyed in WW II because the Nazis wished to preserve it as a museum of an extinct people.
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