The compelling story of the family who came to own Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Villa Tugendhat, in particular Grete Tugendhat, the author’s maternal grandmother, who commissioned the house and lived in it until forced to relinquish it to the Nazi invaders. Drawing on surviving documentation as well as his own memories and those of his extended family, it’s a fascinating and often moving account of a family caught up in global events that they cannot alter. A wealth of photographs accompany the text.

Overall I found this an interesting book to read. The author has written a detailed history of his family. I picked the book up hoping to read about the house but only a small portion of the book is related to the The Villa. I did find the book to slow moving at times. There are lots of historical photographs included. I did learn a lot. Enjoy

Aptly-named Behind the Glass is a brilliant, thought-provoking and fascinating book about anthropologist author Michael Lambek's extended prominent Tugendhat/Löw-Beer family and the concept of family as well as the important modernist family house in Brno, Czech Republic, which plays a role. As the author explains, the house itself is a "public figure" and has a colourful past. His grandmother Grete was instrumental in the villa's design by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It was taken over by the Gestapo and Soviets in WWII, operated as a dance studio and rehabilitation center and finally donated to the state. Lambek outlines the above as well as his diasporic and anthropologic links to his family's history, wealth, the minimalist architectural features of the house, Jewish roots, the horrors of World War II and the well-organized family reunion in Brno in 2017 where attendees had mixed feelings on the maintaining and running of the house after leaving the hands of the family.

The author has done copious amounts of research and draws from his family members' recollections as well as his own memories. His intent is to put the record straight and correct misguided misconceptions. He not only discusses the family's operation of their factories which became amongst the most important in then Czechoslovakia which drew great wealth and the various family members who operated them but also the family's imperfections, affairs and sorrows. Four films have been made about the house and various stories float around from sources outside the family. Lambek places importance on doing other family members justice, such as his grandparents and mother. His aunt, Dani, figures prominently in conserving accurate history. Her efforts in the 2017 reunion are epic! Grete must have been such a force, too. I also liked learning about Paul.

If you enjoy true family history, biographies, architecture, anthropology, history and/or politics, this book is for you. I feel smarter after having read it. The information is absolutely breathtaking and prompted me to do further looking. When I return to the Czech Republic a Villa Tugendhat tour will be on my list. I feel armed with a fount of personal inside information and background history thanks to this text, family lines and photographs.

My sincere thank you to University of Toronto Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this remarkable book. I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough!

A very thorough investigation of one side of his family, centered around a spectacular house constructed by his grandparents.
I appreciated all the photographs included.
It’s a great story for family history, genealogy, and introspection.

Michael Lambek is a Canadian anthropologist and the author of the publication Behind the Glass: The Villa Tugendhat and Its Family.

He is more than suitable to write such a publication. His university background is used in Part I: House and Family where a reader gets a theoretical introduction. The remaining four parts are family-driven (Family and Firm, Grete and Her World, The Family Regrouped and Represented).

The author is a family member, the grandson of Grete Tugendhat, and he researched and described the family roots. I like he didn't worry about mentioning his family relationships because he was describing his family history that is being confused with the family history of fictional Landauers from the Mawer's Glass room nowadays.

I appreciate the precise usage of local names in Czech and mentioning their German equivalents in brackets only for the first time. Example - the small Moravian town of Boskovice (Boskowitz in German).

Behind the Glass is more than the description of one family. It can convey more information to the reader, such as the specifics of a Jewish genealogy ("Löw" was not a family name but a nickname).
Lambek mentioned in his text very often the book Villa Tugendhat written by his aunt Dani. These two publications are complements and deserve to stand on a bookshelf next to each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and University of Toronto Press for a free digital review copy. This is my honest review.