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
-
6 charming homes for the whimsical
Feature Featuring a 1924 factory-turned-loft in San Francisco and a home with custom murals in Yucca Valley
By The Week Staff Published
-
Big tech's big pivot
Opinion How Silicon Valley's corporate titans learned to love Trump
By Theunis Bates Published
-
Stacy Horn's 6 favorite works that explore the spectrum of evil
Feature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Anthony Doerr, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 charming homes for the whimsical
Feature Featuring a 1924 factory-turned-loft in San Francisco and a home with custom murals in Yucca Valley
By The Week Staff Published
-
Stacy Horn's 6 favorite works that explore the spectrum of evil
Feature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Anthony Doerr, and more
By The Week US Published
-
A family tour of Rajasthan by train
The Week Recommends The 'cacophonous, kaleidoscopic' cities of India are fascinating to explore
By The Week UK Published
-
The best new cars for 2025
The Week Recommends From family SUVs to luxury all-electrics these are the most hotly anticipated vehicles
By The Week UK Published
-
Babygirl: Nicole Kidman stars in 'riveting' erotic thriller
The Week Recommends 'The sex and the silliness' is quite fun, but it's 'ploddingly predictable stuff'
By The Week UK Published
-
Smoked haddock soufflé recipe
The Week Recommends Velvety soft soufflé has a delicate and enticing flavour
By The Week UK Published
-
Forbidden Territories: an 'ambitious and ingenious' exhibition
The Week Recommends 'Extravaganza' of a show features an array of works celebrating 100 years of surrealist landscapes
By The Week UK Published
-
Jonathan Sumption shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The medieval historian recommends works by Edward Gibbon, Johan Huizinga and others
By The Week UK Published