How did the landscape now known as Amsterdam look before there was an Amsterdam? Why is the Jordaan so different from the ring canals? Is Central Station in the right place? Why did Amsterdam's impressive planning machine grind to a halt around 1970, and what happened after that? Who owns Amsterdam, and, for that matter, how great is Amsterdam? These questions, and many more, are dealt with in this pertinent, richly illustrated book about a thousand years of Amsterdam's spatial history.Author...

Living for Art is the life story of the eminent Dutch collector, art dealer, researcher and author Frits Lugt (1884-1970). Between 1901 and 1915 he worked for an Amsterdam auction house, which flourished thanks in no small measure to his efforts. In 1915 he started to collect paintings, drawings, prints and antiquities on his own account. While he collected great masters like Rembrandt, Dürer, Rubens, Van Dyck and Watteau, he did not neglect other artists and acquired some outstanding works ...