The Rise of Luxembourg: From Independence to Success is the title of the Literary Tuesdays event by by Emile Haag on Tuesday 26 April 2016 at 19:30 at the Kinneksbond in Mamer.
Luxembourg has come under increasing attack in recent years over its fiscal and financial policies with last year’s LuxLeaks disclosure fuelling the latest volley of international criticism. It was with this in mind that history teacher and former civil service union chief Emile Haag set out to set the record straight in his book The Rise of Luxembourg from Independence to Success, published in English.
“It’s a historical portrait of how Luxembourg looks today, to correct the prevailing prejudices and caricatures of our country,” Haag explained, adding: “Over the past 30 years we’ve developed other qualities and assets. And you can’t reduce our country to just being a fiscal paradise and place thriving on tax evasion.”
Published by Editions Saint-Paul, Haag’s is not a typical academic history book and this is really its strength, making the past 200 years of the Grand Duchy’s history accessible to layman readers and readers with specialist interests alike.
Its 320 pages span Luxembourg’s re-emergence in the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and its steps towards gaining and then retaining independence through two world wars. Luxembourg during World War II, which has in the past been written about extensively, is given a brief but informative overview at the end of which Haag points out that this was a turning point after which Luxembourg became recognised by the international community.
By far the largest part of Haag’s book is given over to the path Luxembourg followed to achieve the success it enjoys today. By shedding light on steel visionaries such as Emile Mayrisch, inventors, sportsmen and women and political and social figures, Haag shows the country’s story is a patchwork held together by colourful, determined and visionary figures.
Free entrance. No registration allowed.
