Nights in the big city - Joachim Schl+r

This elegantly written book describes the evolving perception and experience of the night in three great European cities: Paris, Berlin, and London. As Joachim Schlr shows, the lighting up of the European city by gas and electricity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brought about a new relationship with the night for both those who toiled at work and those who caroused in restaurants, pubs, and cafes.Nights in the Big Cityexplores this change and offers a stirring portrait of the secrets and mysteries a city can hold when the sun goes down.

Sifting through countless police and church archives alongside first-hand accounts, Schlr sets out on his own explorations with a head full of histories, exploring the boulevards and side-streets of these three great capitals. Illustrated with haunting and evocative photographs by, among others, Bill Brandt and Andr Kertsz, and filled with contemporary literary references,Nights in the Big Cityis a milestone in the cultural history of the city.