{"product_id":"amsterdam-9780674009936","title":"Amsterdam","description":"\u003cp\u003eCosmopolitan  stylish  even a little decadent  Amsterdam--\"the Venice of the North\"--is a city of legendary beauty. From a twelfth-century settlement of wooden huts at the mouth of the River Amstel  it had become by the late sixteenth century one of the great cultural capitals of Europe and a major financial center. In this gracefully written examination of Amsterdams soul--part history  part travel guide--the Dutch writer Geert Mak imaginatively depicts the lives of early Amsterdammers and traces the citys progress from a small town of merchants  sailors  farmers  and fishermen to a thriving metropolis. Maks Amsterdam is a city of dreams and nightmares  of grand civic architecture and magnificent monuments  but also of civil wars  uprisings  and bloody religious purges. In his delightfully instructive journey through the city and through time  Mak displays an eye for the bizarre and the unexpected: a Rembrandt sketch of a young girl executed for manslaughter; the shoe of a medieval lady unearthed during a remodeling project; a graffito foretelling the citys doom on the wall of a mansion  daubed by a deranged burgomaster with his own blood. Amsterdam remains a magnet for travelers from around the world  and this charmingly detailed account of its origins and its history through the present day is designed to help the reader step into daily life in a truly modern city.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651626623029,"sku":"ByrdShop_0674009932","price":39.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674009936.jpg?v=1781836635","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/amsterdam-9780674009936","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}