A magnet for trade and travellers from all over the world, stylish, cosmopolitan Amsterdam is a city of dreams and nightmares, of grand civic architecture and legendary beauty, but also of civil wars, bloody religious purges, and the tragedy of Anne Frank.

In this fascinating examination of the city's soul, part history, part travel guide, Geert Mak imaginatively recreates the lives of the early Amsterdammers, and traces Amsterdam's progress from waterlogged settlement to a major financial centre and thriving modern metropolis

Geert Mak is a jounalist and historian, and one of Holland's bestselling writers; he is author of the prize-winningIn EuropeandAn Island in Time.

Philip Blom was born in Hamburg in 1970 and now works in London as a journalist, novelist and translator.