Diccon Bewes

Follows the author's efforts to retrace the first conducted tour of Switzerland by Thomas Cook's Junior United Alpine Club in 1863 by following the journal of member Jemima Morrell and the club's nineteenth-century guidebook.

Slow Train to Switzerland

'A great subject for a cultural anthropologist and Bewes is a perfect guide' Financial Times, Book of the Year A brand new edition of the international bestseller, with new sections on the Swiss elections, the Swiss citizenship test and how Brexit has affected Switzerland. One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million people (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 centre of Europe. Welcome to the landlocked island. Swiss Watching is a fascinating journey around Europe's most individual 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.

Inside the Land of Milk and Money

Swiss Watching

Mastering the art of being Swiss isn't always easy, even if you're Swiss, but this entertaining instruction manual will help you make it (or fake it). Created by best-selling author Diccon Bewes and Swiss cartoonist Michael Meister, How to be Swiss gives you the low-down on such crucial matters as 'Swiss History You (Almost) Need to Know' and 'Finding Swiss Bliss'. It's the perfect book for discovering how Swiss you are already, and how Swiss you want to be.

Instruction Manual

How to Be Swiss

A Young Reader's Journey to Switzerland in Entertaining Maps. Ever heard of the Röstigraben? Did you know, Switzerland fits into Germany eight times ... but 232 times into China? Where did Ulrich Zwingli live? What does Switzerland do to combat climat change? Are cuckoo clocks really from Switzerland? Where was the Red Cross founded? This is the children's atlas about Switzerland, that answers all the questions that curious young minds might have! Learn intresting and amusing facts about this small country and its inhabitants. Exciting and current topics like the country's languages, inventions, energy consumption or tourism and much more will be brought to life with maps and infographics, making this diverse country in the heart of Europe accessible. The 20 especially made maps in this book promise a lively, entertaining and intensive journey.

A Young Explorer's Atlas of Switzerland

Cartographica Helvetica

New updated edition, new statistics and Epilogue One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million people (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 centre of Europe. Welcome to the landlocked island. Swiss Watching is a fascinating journey around Europe s most individual 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 important as innovation. It's also the story of its people, who have more power than their politicians, but can't speak to one another in the same language and who own more guns per head than the people 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 exactly on time.

Inside the Land of Milk and Honey

Swiss Watching, 3rd Edition

A fascinating encounter between Swiss history and original cartography. Using very little-known maps that he researched in archives around the country, Diccon Bewes presents the most important moments in Switzerland's history, ancient and recent, in a different and innovative way. The description accompanying each map is informative, amusing and easy to read.

A Magical Journey

Around Switzerland in 80 Maps

'A great subject for a cultural anthropologist and Bewes is a perfect guide' Financial Times, Book of the Year A brand new edition of the international bestseller, with new sections on the Swiss elections, the Swiss citizenship test and how Brexit has affected Switzerland. One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million people (but only 80% of them Swiss): there's nowhere else in Europe like it. Switzerland may be hundreds of miles away 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 fascinating journey around Europe's most individual 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.

New updated edition, new statistics and Epilogue One country, four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.5 million people (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 centre of Europe. Welcome to the landlocked island. Swiss Watching is a fascinating journey around Europe s most individual 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 important as innovation. It's also the story of its people, who have more power than their politicians, but can't speak to one another in the same language and who own more guns per head than the people of Iraq. As for those national clich's, well, not all the cheese has holes, cuckoo clocks aren't Swiss and the trains don't always run exactly on time.

In June 1863 an English lady set off by train on the trip of a lifetime: Thomas Cook's first Conducted Tour of Switzerland. A century and a half later, travel writer Diccon Bewes, author of the bestselling Swiss Watching, decided to go where she went and see what she saw. Guided by her diary, he followed the same route to discover how much had changed and how much hadn't. She went in search of adventure, he went in search of her, and found far more than he expected. Slow Train to Switzerland is the captivating account of two trips through the Alps: hers glimpsing the future of travel, his revisiting its past. Together they make a journey to remember. This is a tale of trains and tourists, of the British and the Swiss, of a Victorian traveller and a modern-day Englishman abroad. It is the story of a tour that changed both Switzerland and the world of travel forever.

One Tour, Two Trips, 150 Years and a World of Change Apart

The bible for your happy and successful life in Switzerland. An ideal book for the newly arrived and the seasoned resident. This is the book with everything you need to know to enjoy living in Switzerland.

Diccon Bewes

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