The Naked Swiss

Clare O'Dea promises to change the way the world thinks about modern Switzerland - and give Swiss readers much to think about too. In ten chapters O'Dea dismantles the most positive myths of modern Switzerland (The Swiss are Rich/Brilliant/Have the Perfect Democracy) with the same sharp journalistic eye she assesses the negative one (The Swiss are Crooked Bankers/Xenophobic/Helped the Nazis). Already excerpted in Switzerland's weekly Die Weltwoche and garnering lavish praise (see below), O'Dea - ten year veteran at Swissinfo, and now Swiss herself - introduces readers to a cast of real Swiss, painting a lively country through many anecdotes. It is a Switzerland of the twenty-first century - a Switzerland of working mothers, banks gone bankrupt, multicultural football teams. It is a book that isn't afraid to address past shame, present national crises and even the Swiss sex life. In fact-based chapters O'Dea presents a Switzerland that will surprise even many Swiss readers. O'Dea speaks five languages, has visited all 26 cantons, and is the mother of three Swiss children, and her deep knowledge of the country is on display page after page. It promises to be the most important book about Switzerland for international readers for the next several years to come.