Switzerland: A Village History

A thorough history from a local perspective which nicely complimented our recent trip there. Especially informative about the area around Gruyere.

The book is descript and always has a characteristic for centering itself in a fusion of the interesting and the valuable. The book includes maps of Switzerland which provide landmarks referred to in the book. The author is also knowledgeable of the subject and has a crisp writing style. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to get to know Switzerland.

A bit dry

Really useful book, well-written and interesting.

A very dry read. Disappointed as with most cultural histories of the European Alps, unlike those of equivalent Himalayan communities. Why?

As I am a family history nut, I've been looking for books about the history and culture of Switzerland to learn more about my ancestors' experiences, and have found how rare books about Switzerland are.This book was a great find! While it focuses on the area of Chateau-d'Oex, much of what Mr. Birmingham writes applies to other areas of Switzerland as well! Not only does he give good descriptions of the major political, economic, and religious events, but he provides many details of the day to day lives of the people of Switzerland. This included courting rituals (bundling!) and marriage patterns, daily and seasonal routines of dairy farmers, etc.A must for anyone who is interested in learning more about Swiss history and culture! I hope Mr. Birmingham plans to continue his research and writing about Switzerland.

The person reading over enunciates, but the content is exactly what I was looking for to get an idea of life in the old days in rural Switzerland.

This incredible story includes minutiae that brings the various ages of Switzerland to life. The reader enunciates every syllable so I sped up the playback by a little and that made it fine. I listened to the complete book over the course of about 10 days. I didn't want to put it down. The last few paragraphs are poignant and summarize beautifully the culture and why the Alpine Swiss farmers thought it best not to join the EU. I repeated certain sections because I enjoyed them so much, and I played parts of it for my husband and friends who were interested. Prof. Birmingham has obviously exhaustively researched the court records and many other documents and early records to compile this fascinating history. I've been to so many places in Switzerland but on my next trip, I will concentrate on Chateau D'Oex, Rougemont and the Gruyere Highlands.

This was a very interesting book; every sentence was interesting. The writer did not once diverge off tangent: the book stayed true to its narrative & inceptual course. It was a history of Chateau D'Oex, and presumably Zug or some other Orte in Switzerland had a different history: seeing as cheese-making had a lot, it seemed to me, to do with things. Other parts of "Switzerland" may not have Alemannic and Romanic tribes cheek-by-jowl: or (a) Bern ordering et bossing Chateau D'Oex about- it didn't seem to order Chambrey [about]- but a stipulation that I'm unknowledgeable about all things Swiss, is obvious.Lausanne, Vaud- and earlier, Bern, seemed to be the Suzerains- in the late Middle-Ages?- while the Counts of Gruyere may have been the earliest incarnation of "noble domination", but what-do-I-know, as the axiom goes.Quitting while I'm behind, seein' as it's too late to quit while I'm ahead; this was a docu-drama of a book; a fly-on-the-wall through the centuries book, of a cheese-making village. (...see youtube clips of Alpine cheese-making- two words- "hard work").

Really interesting book, giving the history of a locality in Switzerland. Unlike most history this is about the ordinary people who lived and worked in the area. Quite unlike the usual nonsense about kings, queens etc.

As a frequent visitor to Switzerland I used this book to Improve my knowledge of the country it was a bit heavy going at times but enjoyable

Says all you need to know about Helvetians.

For anyone with an interest in modern Switzerland and any knowledge of the Vaud / Bern border areas this book is a must. It is readable and fascinating and helps you place into context the patterns of contemporary life and social structure. If in doubt, buy it.