In Depth

Recommended Reading

Read a few of these books to get a feel for Switzerland -- its people, atmosphere, and history -- before you visit.

The Apple and the Arrow (Conrad Buff) is told from the point of view of William Tell's young son Walter, and recounts the 1291 Swiss struggle for freedom.

Arms and the Man (George Bernard Shaw), a play first produced in 1894, takes place during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War. It features a Swiss voluntary soldier who carries chocolates instead of pistol cartridges. Oscar Straus based his 1909 The Chocolate Soldier operetta on this play.

Daisy Miller (Henry James), a novella, probes the emotional complications of a rich American traveling in Switzerland. Published in 1878, the novella became one of James's all-time big successes.

Heidi (Johanna Spyri), a world classic, is the best known book set in Switzerland. Charming readers of every generation since its publication in 1880, it's the story of a young orphan sent to live with her grumpy grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Calling Shirley Temple now that we need her.

Hotel du Lac (Anita Brookner) is the story of a romance author who has been banished by her friends to a stately hotel in Switzerland, where she hears fascinating tales of the guests she befriends there.

The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann) is a classic, one of the most celebrated novels of the 20th century, and it's set in an alpine sanatorium in the resort of Davos-Platz. Mann tells the story of Hans Castorp, a "modern everyman," who spends seven years in the alpine sanatorium for TB patients before leaving to become a soldier in World War I.

Scrambles Amongst the Alps (Edward Whymper) is the latest reprint of this classic mountaineer's account of his conquest of the Matterhorn.

For some light reading, Ticking Along with the Swiss (Dianne Dicks) is an amusing collection of personal tales from travelers to Switzerland.

A Tramp Abroad (Mark Twain) is the eternal tongue-in-cheek travelogue for "Innocents Abroad" touring the Swiss Alps.

Walking Switzerland -- The Swiss Way (Marcia and Philip Lieberman) is a useful guide for those who want to walk through the tiny country, as hundreds do.

Why Switzerland? (Jonathan Steinberg) provides the best look at Swiss society, culture, and history.

Wilhelm Tell (Friedrich von Schiller), a play, is one of the Harvard Classics. It's based on the legendary Swiss hero who resisted Austrian domination. He was consequently forced to use a bow and arrow to shoot an apple placed on the head of his son. Rossini based his famous opera on this play.

Movies

Switzerland is no Hollywood, not even a Bollywood. But the dramatic geography of the country itself has often made it a locale for filmmakers from all over the world. Of course, the all-time Swiss classic is Heidi, shot in 1937 and starring Shirley Temple as Heidi (who else?). This movie continues to win new fans -- young ones, that is -- every year.

One of the best of all James Bond films, Goldfinger (1964), uses Switzerland in some of its backdrop scenes with star Sean Connery. Secret Agent 007 returned to Switzerland for more background scenes in the 1969 On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the 1995 Goldeneye. The 1994 version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, directed by Kenneth Branagh, also used dramatic Swiss backdrops.

Trois couleurs: Rouge in 1994 (Three Colors Red), the last film in director Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy, used scenes in Geneva's Old Town as a backdrop, and director Peter Greenaway also used the city in his Stairs 1 Geneva (1995).

Director Blake Edwards used Gstaad and its swanky Palace Hotel for The Return of the Pink Panther (1975). The Bernese Oberland is showcased, perhaps as never before, in Clint Eastwood's The Eiger Sanction (1975). Even people who didn't enjoy this espionage spy thriller were charmed by the scenery. A Zurich bank figures into the plot of The Bourne Identity (2002), starring Matt Damon. The thriller is based very loosely on Robert Ludlum's novel.