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City of Lions by Jozef Wittlin and Philippe Sands
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City of Lions

Portrait of a City in Two Acts: Lviv, Then and Now

Portrait of a City in Two Acts: Lviv, Then and Now

By Jozef Wittlin and Philippe Sands
Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

By Jozef Wittlin and Philippe Sands
Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

By Jozef Wittlin and Philippe Sands
Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

By Jozef Wittlin and Philippe Sands
Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Best Seller

Part of Pushkin Collection

Paperback $19.95

Sep 12, 2023 | ISBN 9781805330011

Ebook $11.99

Mar 21, 2017 | ISBN 9781782271819

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    City of Lions by Jozef Wittlin and Philippe Sands
    Paperback $19.95
    Sep 12, 2023 | ISBN 9781805330011

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    • $19.95

      Sep 12, 2023 | ISBN 9781805330011

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Mar 21, 2017 | ISBN 9781782271819

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    About City of Lions

    “A loving, sensuous, but also gently ironic reconstruction of a lost city” — LA Review of Books

    A timely reissue of the classic portrayal of the Ukrainian city of Lviv by 2 authors in 2 acts, separated by time and circumstance

    With an illuminating preface by Eva Hoffman and stunning new photographs by Diana Matar, City of Lions is a powerful and melancholy evocation of Ukraine in the twentieth century, with a special resonance for today.

    Lviv, Lwów, Lvov, Lemberg. Known by a variety of names, the City of Lions is now in western Ukraine. Situated in different countries during its history, it is a city located along the fault-lines of Europe’s history.

    City of Lions presents two essays, written more than half a century apart – but united by one city.

    Józef Wittlin’s lyrical paean to his Lwów, written in exile, is a deep cry of love and pain for his city, where most people he knew have fled or been killed.

    Philippe Sands’ finely honed exploration of what has been lost and what remains interweaves a lawyer’s love of evidence with the emotional heft of a descendant of Lviv.

    About City of Lions

    The Ukrainian city Lviv’s many names (Lviv, Lvov, Lwow, Lemberg, Leopolis) bear witness to its conflicted past – it has, at one time or another, belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland, Russia and Germany, and has brought forth numerous famous artists and intellectuals. My Lwow, Jozef Wittlin‘s short 1946 treatise on the city he left in 1922, is a wistful and lyrical study of an electrifying cosmopolis, told from the other side of the catastrophe of the Second World War. Philippe Sand‘s essay provides a parallel account of the city as it is today: the cultural capital of Ukraine, its citizens played a key role during the Orange Revolution, and its executive committee declared itself independent of the rule of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. The City of Lions includes both old black-and-white photos showing Lviv during the first half of the twentieth century, and new photographs by the award-winning Diana Matar, of the city as it is today.

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    Also by Jozef Wittlin

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    See all books by Jozef Wittlin

    About Jozef Wittlin

    Józef Wittlin, born in 1896, was a major Polish poet, novelist, essayist and translator. He studied in Vienna, where he… More about Jozef Wittlin

    About Jozef Wittlin

    Józef Wittlin, born in 1896, was a major Polish poet, novelist, essayist and translator. He studied in Vienna, where he… More about Jozef Wittlin

    Product Details

    Category: European World History

    Paperback | $19.95
    Published by Pushkin Press
    Sep 12, 2023 | 176 Pages | 5-1/16 x 7-13/16 | ISBN 9781805330011

    Category: European World History

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Pushkin Collection
    Mar 21, 2017 | 160 Pages | ISBN 9781782271819

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    Praise

    “[Wittlin’s essay My Lwów is] for many Poles the definitive evocation of one of their great lost cities. . . a loving, sensuous, but also gently ironic reconstruction. . . Sands’s perspective is closer to that of the contemporary reader, who struggles with the juxtaposition between beauty, faded grandeur, and whimsical visions of a cosmopolitan past on the one hand, and savage mass murder on the other.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

    “Congratulations to Pushkin Press for bringing lovely, haunted Lviv to a new audience.” — Times Literary Supplement

    “A walk down memory lane, a meditation on time, politics and remembrance.” — Dublin Review of Books 

    “Wittlin takes us on a detailed tour of the city… well-illustrated.” — East-West Review

    “Beautiful and disturbing songs in prose.” - Kazimierz Wierzyński

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