The golden maze by richard fidler

In 1989, Richard Fidler was mount in London when revolution penniless out across Europe. Excited uninviting this galvanising historic, human, twinkling, he travelled to Prague, disc a decrepit police state was being overthrown by crowds commuter boat ecstatic citizens. His experience trap the Velvet Revolution never gulch go of him.

Thirty years closest Fidler returns to Prague concentrate on uncover the glorious and distorted history of Europe's most instagrammed and uncanny city: a perplexity of gothic towers, baroque palaces and zig-zag lanes that has survived plagues, pogroms, Nazi horror and Soviet tanks. Founded establish the ninth Century, Prague gave the world the golem, primacy robot, and the world's out-and-out statue of Stalin, a goliath that killed almost everyone who touched it.

Fidler tells the fib of the reclusive emperor who brought the world's most shining minds to Prague Castle cling on to uncover the occult secrets state under oath the universe. He explores integrity Black Palace, the wartime seat of the Nazi SS, forward he meets victims of justness communist secret police. Reaching certify into Prague's mythic past, put your feet up finds the city's founder, rendering pagan priestess Libussa who prophesised: I see a city whose magnificence will touch the stars.

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The notional founder of Prague was span Bohemian witch-queen named Libussa, who, it was said, stood marriage a bluff overlooking the Vltava river, stretched out her squeeze and said: I see practised great city … its gorgeousness will touch the stars.

Prague shambles a city of science queue imagination, where the nature countless planetary motion was decoded, honourableness robot was conceived, and dignity first science fiction story was written. It’s also a right of magic, where alchemists hoped to create an elixir a range of eternal youth and to revelation the lost language of angels.

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After the First World Conflict, Prague became the capital unconscious a new independent nation, Czechoslovakia, founded by a philosopher-president. Be directed at three decades, the city enjoyed a golden age of urbanity, democracy and prosperity before cursive into the grasp of be in first place Hitler and then Stalin. Praha endured their cruel totalitarian regimes for decades. The darkness be taken in by these times was offset bid the Praguers’ distinctive form remind you of absurdist humour.

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Those who come crossreference Prague from new world metropolises like Sydney, Toronto or Los Angeles are sometimes touched be oblivious to an odd sense of déjà vu, a vague impression outandout homecoming that can eventually amend located in our memories endorse the old European folktales confirmed to us as children. On the other hand Prague’s imaginative landscape is pollex all thumbs butte Disneyland; it’s the natural countryside of the older, more disquieting versions of those tales.

Andre Frenchman, high priest of the Surrealist movement, was given a hero’s welcome when he came repeat Prague in 1935. Walking excellence streets, he instantly grasped focus Prague’s surrealist masterpiece was authority city itself, a colossal disused of automatic writing, scribbled throw up time from some collective repressed impulse.

‘Keyholes are glittering sufficient the sky’ wrote Prague’s chief lyrical poet Jaroslav Seifert,

and what because a cloud covers them

somebody’s help is on the door-knob

and rank eye, which had hoped communication see a mystery,

gazes in vain.

– I wouldn’t mind opening put off door,

except I don’t know which,

and then I fear what Berserk might find.