The Last Palace

Europe's Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House

De: Norman Eisen

Narrado por: Jeff Goldblum

A sweeping yet intimate narrative about the last hundred years of turbulent European history, as seen through one of Mitteleuropa's greatest houses - and the lives of its occupants

When Norman Eisen moved into the US ambassador’s residence in Prague, returning to the land his mother had fled after the Holocaust, he was startled to discover swastikas hidden beneath the furniture in his new home. These symbols of Nazi Germany were remnants of the residence’s forgotten history, and evidence that we never live far from the past.

From that discovery unspooled the twisting, captivating tale of four of the remarkable people who had called this palace home. Their story is Europe’s, and The Last Palace chronicles the upheavals that transformed the continent over the past century. There was the optimistic Jewish financial baron, Otto Petschek, who built the palace after World War I as a statement of his faith in democracy, only to have that faith shattered; Rudolf Toussaint, the cultured, compromised German general who occupied the palace during World War II, ultimately putting his life at risk to save the house and Prague itself from destruction; Laurence Steinhardt, the first postwar US ambassador whose quixotic struggle to keep the palace out of Communist hands was paired with his pitched efforts to rescue the country from Soviet domination; and Shirley Temple Black, an eyewitness to the crushing of the 1968 Prague Spring by Soviet tanks, who determined to return to Prague and help end totalitarianism - and did just that as US ambassador in 1989.

Weaving in the life of Eisen’s own mother to demonstrate how those without power and privilege moved through history, The Last Palace tells the dramatic and surprisingly cyclical tale of the triumph of liberal democracy.

©2018 Norman Eisen (P)2018 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A deft and fascinating narrative...The Last Palace is steeped in politics, military history, architectural lore and anecdotes.... Mr. Eisen’s easy, fluid style and the richness of his material make for very pleasurable historical reading.” (Wall Street Journal)

“The book’s main characters are captivating. The palace itself has a ghostly allure.” (The Economist)

“Meticulous...fascinating.... Reading this book, you are reminded of the many missed opportunities that the United States and other Western allies had to encourage and assist democracy in Central Europe. It is not clear that we have learned from history as we are once again confronting nationalist, nativist and anti-democratic politicians and movements backed or amplified by Russia in Europe and beyond.” (Washington Post)

A Publishers Weekly, BookPage, and Pen America Best Book of 2018

A moving history of Prague

Centered around what is now the American Embassy, a palace built in the 1920s is the setting for the Czech Republic’s striving and winning of democracy. Its occupants are witness to revolutions, and the stories told from the personal recollections of those who came to love and protect the palace and its symbol of endurance.

Well researched and beautifully written, I recommend this to anyone curious about the current situation in America in 2025 and the warning this book serves as western democracy teeters on the brink.

Great and entertaining story of Czechoslovakia over the past 150 years!

Well researched and entertains from start to finish. You get a history lesson without any boredom involved!

Political History - Prague 1930’s to present

Centered around Villa Petschek the book addresses the political history of Prague from the 1930’s to present day. From the point of view and experience of the author Norman Eisen the US Ambassador to the Czech Republic 2011 - 2014.

Loved it;

The story flowed so well with thoroughness of detail. The stories were really well written. I loved the commentary of Norman’s mother and their sense of humor. Goldblum’s pronunciation of all those European names and languages including Yiddish was wonderful. His narration was great.

Great book despite goldblum’s narration

Story is great. I just went to Prague and this book enriched the experience. Not even Goldblum’s atrocious narration managed to ruin it. By the way, somebody give him a TUMS. There were parts where it sounded like he needed to burp. When narrating children and women, he sounded like somebody just kicked him in the privates. Every Czech, German, and Hebrew word appeared to give him seizures. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE = just because someone is famous, it does not mean they will be good narrators (the opposite is more likely).

Interesting story - horrible reading

The story itself is good. I’m not sure the last portion adds much to be story.
The problem is the reading. His female voices were horrible. He also sounded like he was yawning or running out of breath. Then there were a few times that a word or phrase seemed to be spliced in.
He enunciated the foreign words well.

Oh for some Czech pronunciation coaching...

This book provides an excellent history of not only the palace, but the history of Prague and its people, domestic, émigré, and expat, and a history that includes perspectives from many vantage points (Czech, Slovak, Jewish (Orthodox and Reform), German, LGBTQ+, various political ideologies, generations, and so on). A tremendous accomplishment!

As for the performance, a few caveats are in order, especially for Czech or Slovak listeners. Goldblum is Goldblum, and you get a lot of his actor's interpretation. He starts out promisingly, with names pronounced with reasonable accuracy, but I suspect he was coached at the outset and then let loose on the full text without much guidance or quality control. (Full disclosure: I am not a native speaker but a lifelong learner of languages, Czech in particular.) Words he does moderately well initially begin to morph by the halfway mark, and somewhere around 1968 it all goes off the rails. By 1989 the language is virtually unrecognizable, when Goldblum has to attempt many of the protest slogans of the Velvet Revolution. The more Czech words there are, the worse he does.

Some low-lights: Dvořák and Smetana become Davoruk and Schmetanna (I mean, c'mon, learn the basics if you are going to represent Czech culture respectfully), Husák becomes Hušek, and don't get me started on Národní třída!

And then there's the "quotation voice" he adopts, increasingly throughout the book. He makes women sound like vapid bubbleheads, and by the end, everyone sounds like a strangled child or a constipated grandma. As for the German, it's more accurate phonetically, but Goldblum delivers it like Colonel Klink or Sergeant Schultz: stereotypical "Hollywood Nazi."

Sadly ironic that the German is better than the Czech in such a fine book. Better coaching and quality control, people.

One of the best books I have ever read/Listen to.

One Of the best books I have ever read/Listen to, truly a Awesome read it gives you historic reference and family history at the same time. I will read it again, and Again.

Superbly done

Fantastic gathering of data.
Now walking by such institution you can appreciate it’s “existence” !
One of those rare opportunities where you can be the fly on the wall and witness events as they unfolded !
Excellent book.
Truly enjoyed it.

Fascinating historical story, superb narration

This books takes you through over a hundred years of Czech history in a moving and compelling set of intertwined stories. Jeff Goldblum's narration is marvelous.