3 Review(s)

History is more than facts and figures, people and places, wars and politics, deaths and disasters. Stories are never fixed in stone; they continue to morph and evolve with every retelling. Author Simon Maier casts himself in the role of a hotelier who has worked in different cities around the world over the last 60 years. Wry, witty and sharp, history is told through a refreshing point of view. As the narrator chronicles key events of the 20th and 21st centuries, he provides details of the atmosphere, and recounts tales from people on the ground, along with sketches of the mood and beliefs of the time. Such details infuse the biggest and most important occasions of modern times with insight, precision and warmth. This book is a fascinating mix of fact and fiction; of what did happen and what might have happened. History is scattered with many great changes; some planned, most sudden; some shocking, others happy. We see the front view of the occasion, the announcement, the television footage, the moment in lights. We see the stage that is put before us - but what about behind the scenes? What insights can we find on the other side of history?