Summary of Russell Shorto's Amsterdam

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 A day in Amsterdam begins with me leaving my apartment with my toddler son in my arms, strapping him into his seat between the handlebars of my bicycle, and setting off through the quiet, generally breezy streets of our neighborhood.

#2 Amsterdam’s tolerance of vice is made apparent when you visit the neighborhood surrounding the school. The streets are lined with stores that sell sex toys, advertising agencies, and strip clubs. But when you live there for a while, the exotic becomes mundane.

#3 The neighborhood of Nicolaas Maesstraat and Frans van Mierisstraat, which was home to the city’s elite, has names that instantly give it some of the luster of Amsterdam’s age of glory. But as you go farther away from the center, the houses get plainer.

#4 Iman and her husband were legal residents of the Netherlands, but their legal residence was deemed a reason for untrustworthiness. The decision was later reversed, and Iman’s sister was allowed to visit.