Book of the week: The Cult of We by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell
Two Wall Street Journal scribes chart the downfall of WeWork’s ‘messiah’
For roughly six decades in the 16th century, Antwerp was Europe’s most dynamic city, said Gerard DeGroot in The Times. Not only was it a centre of commerce – a place where virtually anything could be traded, from spices and gems to “paintings and secrets” – but it was also a “rogue’s paradise”.
In this riveting book, Michael Pye tells its story in “prose as opulent as the city itself”. He covers the trade in “exotic products from the East” that made Antwerp rich, as well as other, less familiar areas: the circulation of “semi-pornographic” texts; the population’s love of alcohol (there were 376 pubs for 100,000 people); the “prominent role” of women in business. His book is a “cornucopia of Antwerp’s abundant delights”.
The city’s golden age was short-lived, said Mathew Lyons in the Literary Review. Antwerp’s involvement in the Dutch Revolt led its Habsburg masters to curtail its freedoms; by the late 1580s, half its population had left. But Pye brilliantly “conjures up... the glamour that drew people to Antwerp’s gates” until that point – the sense that it was reinventing the very “idea of what a city could be”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Allen Lane 288pp £25; The Week Bookshop £19.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
When is an offensive social media post a crime?
The Explainer UK legal system walks a 'difficult tightrope' between defending free speech and prosecuting hate speech
By The Week UK Published
-
Women are getting their own baseball league again
In the Spotlight The league is on track to debut in 2026
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Giant TVs are becoming the next big retail commodity
Under the Radar Some manufacturers are introducing TVs over 8 feet long
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Ed Park's 6 favorite works about self reflection and human connection
Feature The Pulitzer Prize finalist recommends works by Jason Rekulak, Gillian Linden, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 fantastic homes in Columbus, Ohio
Feature Featuring a 1915 redbrick Victorian in German Village and a modern farmhouse in Woodland Park
By The Week Staff Published
-
Drawing the Italian Renaissance: a 'relentlessly impressive' exhibition
The Week Recommends Show at the King's Gallery features an 'enormous cache' of works by the likes of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael
By The Week UK Published
-
Niall Williams shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The Irish novelist chooses works by Charles Dickens, Seamus Heaney and Wendell Berry
By The Week UK Published
-
Patriot: Alexei Navalny's memoir is as 'compelling as it is painful'
The Week Recommends The anti-corruption campaigner's harrowing book was published posthumously after his death in a remote Arctic prison
By The Week UK Published
-
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: a 'magical' show with 'an electrifying emotional charge'
The Week Recommends The 'vivacious' Fitzgerald adaptation has a 'shimmering, soaring' score
By The Week UK Published
-
Bird: Andrea Arnold's 'strange, beguiling and quietly moving' drama
The Week Recommends Barry Keoghan stars in 'fearless' film combining social and magical realism
By The Week UK Published
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
By The Week US Published