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A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR THE NO.1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million persons (but only 80% of them Swiss): there's nowhere else in Europe like it. Switzerland may be almost 400 km from the nearest drop of seawater, but it is an island at the center of Europe. Welcome to the landlocked island. Swiss Watching is a arousing and attention holding journeying around Europe s most person and misunderstood country. From seeking Heidi and finding the best chocolate to reliving a bloody past and exploring an uncertain future, Diccon Bewes proves that there s more to Switzerland than banks and skis, francs and cheese. This book dispels the myths and unravels the true meaning of Swissness . In a land of cultural contradictions, this is a picture of the real and normally unseen Switzerland, a place where the breathtaking scenery shaped a nation not just a tour itinerary, and where tradition is as primary as innovation. It s likewise the story of it is people, who have more power than their politicians, but may t speak to one another in the same language and who own more guns per head than the humans of Iraq. As for those national clichés, well, not all the cheese has holes, cuckoo clocks aren’t Swiss and the trains don’t always run incisively on time.
Review We all recognise that Switzerland gave us the world of cuckoo clocks, triangular chocolate and penknives, but how in regards to the Toilet Duck, Velcro and LSD? Europe s landlocked island is a great subject for a cultural anthropologist and Bewes is a perfective guide. (Financial Times )
Bewes has an engagingly light and comic touch. The narrative moves with ease amidst subjects as diverse as graffiti and recycling, and it s easy to dip in and out of. (Sunday Telegraph )
"Informative and Entertaining."--Harry Ritchie, The Mail on Sunday
"It's a real page turner, a treasure trove. Absolutely jam-packed with arousing and attention holding facts that genuinely got me thinking." --Margaret Oertig-Davidson, author of Beyond Chocolate
"Everything you wanted to know in regards to Switzerland, and then some. Not just a travel book, Swiss Watching is a no-stone-unturned exploration of what makes (and has made) this enigmatic country tick' --Peter Kerr, author of the Snowball Orange series of five books
"A arousing and attention holding book, teeming with facts, figures, and anecdotes which even the Swiss don t know. A journalist, anthropologist and satirist, Diccon Bewes gives us a book that is severe without being academic and funny without ever falling into caricature." --L Hebdo ReviewA Financial Times Book of Year 2010 " - Bewes has an engagingly light and comic touch" - Clover Stroud, The Sunday Telegraph "Informative and Entertaining." - Harry Ritchie, The Mail on Sunday "It's a real page turner, a treasure trove. Absolutely jam-packed with arousing and attention holding facts that in truth got me thinking." -Margaret Oertig-Davidson, author of Beyond Chocolate "Everything you wanted to recognise with regards to Switzerland, and then some. Not just a travel book, 'Swiss Watching' is a no-stone-unturned exploration of what makes (and has made) this enigmatic country tick' Peter Kerr, author of the Snowball Orange series of five books About the Author
Diccon Bewes is an experienced travel writer who has lived in Switzerland for four years. An 18-month world trip set him up for a career in travel writing, thru the scenic route of bookselling. After ten years at Lonely Planet and Holiday Which? magazine, he decamped to Switzerland, where he is presently manager of the Stauffacher English Bookshop in Bern. As well as grappling with German, re-learning to cross the road properly, and overcoming his innate desire to form an orderly queue, he has expended the last four years exploring the bits of the country he'd never heard of before and eating lots of chocolate.
Most helpful client reviews 8 of 8 persons found the following review helpful.
 Switzerland as you've never seen it before
By Martin Girven
As someone who has lived in Switzerland rather not long ago I would commend `Swisswatching' highly to anybody moving there or plainly visiting the country. Bewes' book gets under the skin of the experience of being a foreigner in Switzerland and does it with a great sense of fun. It likewise gives an magnificent and informed view of the Swiss as a nation and proves beyond doubt that, in spite of having four cultural and language groups within it is borders, there is such a thing as Swissness. Most importantly, the book takes a superb look at the regions of Switzerland, a great deal of of which may be well known but most of which will be new to all but the most experienced traveller. It looks at the productions we all know as Swiss and the figures we may presently be incognizant of and tells the story of a country through their histories. Above all this is a exhaustively enjoyable, amusive and agreeably diverting read for any individual with even a passing interest in travel. 8 of 9 humans found the following review helpful.
I loved it!
By SJAB
This is such a outstanding read, whether or not you are planning to visit Switzerland. If you are, then take this with you because, even even though it's not a guide book, you'll end up wanting to visit all the places he mentions! If you're not going there, you'll soon want to once you've read it!! Swisswatching is informative, interesting, honorable and funny. Diccon Bewes has researched it well and added in his magnificent observations from living as an expat in Switzerland. If you like Bill Bryson you'll love this! I couldn't put it down and can't wait for his next book! The outstanding thing is that you may likewise make remarks and ask him questions thru his blog ([...]) and he genuinely answers!! Plus each new blog entry adds more funny observations in regards to the country that aren't in his book. What more could you want? 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Only Now Do I Truly Know The Swiss
By R. J. Shaw
Diccon Bewes' penetrating perceptivenesses into the Swiss psyche makes Swiss Watching a book in regards to Switzerland like no other.
I'm married to a Swiss and have visited Switzerland -from Australia- more than twenty times.
In my quest to acquaint myself better with this arousing and attention holding country I've read numerous books and guides, including a couple of very good ones.
But here we have something very, very special.
Swiss Watching is perfectly absorbing and brilliantly written.
In his distinguishable and engaging style Diccon Bewes zeroes in on the Switzerland we don't genuinely know, the one that's concealed behind all those majestic peaks, quaint chalets, well-fed cows and the chocolate, cheese and precision watches.
The book is a comprehensive and very reasonable account of all things Swiss -especially the people- and the author's sharp and perceptive observations cut through to the very core of the national mentality.
Want a book when it comes to Switzerland full of gushy prose extolling the country's a lot of virtues?...dozens of such books exist, have been around for a hundred years and may be found in the travel division of bookshops the world over.
Prefer a no-holds-barred, balanced treatise that will accurately disclose the Swiss to you in a way you never thought possible?...this is THE book.
For author Diccon Bewes, researching and then writing Swiss Watching has without doubt or question been a labour of love; he is to be heartily congratulated for developing such an great and seminal work in which he veritably has nailed the Swiss like no-one has before.
As it's right up there with the most pleasurable and informative books I've ever read I plainly can't commend this wondrous book highly enough. See all 29 client reviews... |
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