A Concise History of Switzerland

A Concise History of Switzerland
Author: Clive H. Church
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2013-05-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107244196

Despite its position at the heart of Europe and its quintessentially European nature, Switzerland's history is often overlooked within the English-speaking world. This comprehensive and engaging history of Switzerland traces the historical and cultural development of this fascinating but neglected European country from the end of the Dark Ages up to the present. The authors focus on the initial Confederacy of the Middle Ages; the religious divisions which threatened it after 1500 and its surprising survival amongst Europe's monarchies; the turmoil following the French Revolution and conquest, which continued until the Federal Constitution of 1848; the testing of the Swiss nation through the late nineteenth century and then two World Wars and the Depression of the 1930s; and the unparalleled economic and social growth and political success of the post-war era. The book concludes with a discussion of the contemporary challenges, often shared with neighbours, that shape the country today.

Swiss Made

Swiss Made
Author: R. James Breiding
Publisher: Profile Books
Total Pages: 751
Release: 2013-01-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1847658091

Why has Switzerland - a tiny, land-locked country with few natural advantages - become so successful for so long at so many things? In banking, pharmaceuticals, machinery, even textiles, Swiss companies rank alongside the biggest and most powerful global competitors. How did they get there? How do they continue to refresh themselves? Does the Swiss 'Sonderfall' (special case) provide lessons others can learn and benefit from? Can the Swiss continue to perform in a hyper-competitive global economy? Swiss Made offers answers to these and many other questions about the country as it describes the origins, structures and characteristics of the most important Swiss companies. The authors suggest success is due to a large degree to sound entrepreneurial thinking and an openness to new ideas. And they venture a surprising forecast on the country's ability to keep pace in an age of globalisation.

Slow Train to Switzerland

Slow Train to Switzerland
Author: Diccon Bewes
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2013-11-07
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1857889762

A travel diary from 1863 inspires author Diccon Bewes to retrace Thomas Cook's historic train trip that revolutionized tourism forever.

Switzerland: A Village History

Switzerland: A Village History
Author: D. Birmingham
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2000-05-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780333800140

Switzerland is a remarkable country half of whose territory lies in the Alps. The raising of cattle and the making of cheese eventually brought a modest wealth to the peasants but the destructive Napoleonic invasion brought revolution and poverty. The democratic unification of Switzerland created a common market and a single currency. This history of one alpine village illustrates a one-thousand-year struggle for survival on the edge of this white wilderness.

The Radical Right in Switzerland

The Radical Right in Switzerland
Author: Damir Skenderovic
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 489
Release: 2009-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1845459482

There has been a tendency amongst scholars to view Switzerland as a unique case, and comparative scholarship on the radical right has therefore shown little interest in the country. Yet, as the author convincingly argues, there is little justification for maintaining the notion of Swiss exceptionalism, and excluding the Swiss radical right from cross-national research. His book presents the first comprehensive study of the development of the radical right in Switzerland since the end of the Second World War and therefore fills a significant gap in our knowledge. It examines the role that parties and political entrepreneurs of the populist right, intellectuals and publications of the New Right, as well as propagandists and militant groups of the extreme right assume in Swiss politics and society. The author shows that post-war Switzerland has had an electorally and discursively important radical right since the 1960s that has exhibited continuity and persistence in its organizations and activities. Recently, this has resulted in the consolidation of a diverse Swiss radical right that is now established at various levels within the political and public arena.

Target Switzerland

Target Switzerland
Author: Stephen P. Halbrook
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2009-08-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786751185

Countless books have been written on the military history of World War II, however astonishingly little information has appeared about the one country that stared the Nazis down and refused to become an accomplice to the horrors of the Third Reich. This book provides an objective, year-by-year account of Switzerland's military role in World War II, including her defensive strategies, details of Nazi invasion plans, and Switzerland's moral, material and humanitarian links to the Allies. Swiss neutrality in World War II has been criticized in recent years, but the country was entirely surrounded by Axis powers and managed, as revealed here, to render considerable assistance to the Allies.

Between the Alps and a Hard Place

Between the Alps and a Hard Place
Author: Angelo M. Codevilla
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2000-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 089526238X

Switzerland's "neutrality" is fully examined and challenged in this groundbreaking study of the economics underpinning the political in that country's successful non-alignment policies.

Swiss Watching

Swiss Watching
Author: Diccon Bewes
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2012-03-09
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1857889916

A Financial Times Book of the Year and international bestseller.

Dear Alexandra

Dear Alexandra
Author: Helen Gudel
Publisher:
Total Pages: 29
Release: 1999
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781568997407

In letters throughout the year, Alexandra's grandmother describes the routines and celebrations that make up life in her little village in the mountains of Switzerland.