City of Lions

by Jozef Wittlin; Philippe Sands

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Pub Date Mar 21 2017 | Archive Date Dec 09 2016

Pushkin Press | Pushkin Collection

History | Travel

Description

The Ukrainian city Lviv's many names (Lviv, Lvov, Lwow, Lemberg, Leopolis) bear witness to its conflicted past - it has, at one time or another, belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland, Russia and Germany, and has brought forth numerous famous artists and intellectuals. My Lwow, Jozef Wittlin's short 1946 treatise on the city he left in 1922, is a wistful and lyrical study of an electrifying cosmopolis, told from the other side of the catastrophe of the Second World War. Philippe Sand's essay provides a parallel account of the city as it is today: the cultural capital of Ukraine, its citizens played a key role during the Orange Revolution, and its executive committee declared itself independent of the rule of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. The City of Lions includes both old black-and-white photos showing Lviv during the first half of the twentieth century, and new photographs by the award-winning Diana Matar, of the city as it is today.

The Ukrainian city Lviv's many names (Lviv, Lvov, Lwow, Lemberg, Leopolis) bear witness to its conflicted past - it has, at one time or another, belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland...

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781782271178
PRICE	$18.00 (USD)
PAGES	144

Additional Information

Average rating from 7 members

Featured Reviews

Mandy J, Reviewer

This short book comprises two illuminating and thought-provoking essays, written 50 years apart by two very different writers, but both having as their theme the same city, Lviv, as it is now known, a city which has had many different names over the years dependent on the political situation. The first essay is by Jozef Wittlin who left in the 20s and looks back on the city that continued to haunt him. First published in Polish in 1946, it is here translated into English for the first time. The second essay is by the human rights lawyer Philippe Sands who visits the city in 2016 and confronts the places where his long-lost family were exterminated in WWII. Both essays are suffused with nostalgia, melancholy and loss and make for some very moving reading. This beautiful city has witnessed so much horror and barbarity over the years, and the carefully selected photographs add to the pervasive feeling of sadness. A thoughtful and engaging volume, which with its parallel accounts brings the city to life very effectively .

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Brooke W, Reviewer

"City of Lions" consists of two evocative essays written 70 years apart. Both look at the city now known as Lviv (and now part of Ukraine), a city constantly shifting yet forever haunted by the past. Recommended for anyone interested in Central/Eastern European history and literature.