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Amsterdam was arguably “the world’s most liberal city”, to quote the subtitle of this well-told history by Russell Shorto, an American writer who lives in Amsterdam. Shorto argues that little Amsterdam “has influenced the modern world to a degree that perhaps no other city has”.
Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City, by Russell Shorto
Amsterdam, he explains, maintains a fine balance of individual and collective. This was never a Wild West town. Rather, because Amsterdammers have had to work together to maintain the dikes, society has been strong. The 17th-century merchants created “some of Europe’s first orphanages, homes for the elderly” and neighbourhoods where rich and poor... See more
Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City, by Russell Shorto
On Europe’s Inner Asian frontier, demographic expansion long seemed as hobbled as it was in mainland North America until the 1750s.