All About Switzerland, an ebook published in May 2024, is Clare O’Dea’s latest non-fiction book. Available through many online retailers, the book contains a selection of 29 news and background articles, opinion pieces and personal essays about Switzerland.
Buy the ebook online: Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Kobo, Ex Libris, Orell Füssli, and elsewhere.
The articles were first published online between 2022 and 2024 in The Local Switzerland. Selected for All About Switzerland, these articles give a comprehensive picture of modern Switzerland for an English-speaking readership, neatly filling the gap left since the publication of last edition of The Naked Swiss in 2018.
Now’s your chance to get up to date on Swiss current affairs and society, with sections on money, the future, women, foreigners, Europe and more. Who are the elite in Switzerland? What are the best cantons for foreigners to live in? Why is Switzerland failing in the fight against money laundering? Can you ever meet Swiss standards of cleanliness? Find out the answers to these questions and many more in this broad-ranging mix of facts, analysis and personal perspective.
Readers who enjoyed my first book, The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths, will feel at home with All About Switzerland. It’s for people who want to understand Switzerland better, either because they live here or have a special interest in the country. And it’s for people who like their non-fiction to be informed by thorough research and direct experience.
The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths (out of print)
Switzerland is a global success story, topping the rankings in almost every category of achievement. But the Swiss themselves are often misrepresented or misunderstood. It’s worth taking a closer look at the people behind the performance.
In The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths (Bergli Books 2016 & 2018), I tackle the negative and positive clichés about the Swiss. Are the Swiss really rich, neutral, boring and brilliant? Do they have the perfect democracy or are they all crooked bankers? Did they help the Nazis? How do Swiss women and foreigners fare in the alpine nation?
In this book, I introduce a cast of fascinating Swiss characters, from president to street sweeper. Here you have all the context you need – history, economics, politics and culture – to make your mind up about this complex and dynamic land.
The Naked Irish: Portrait of a Nation Beyond the Clichés (2019)
Having reached a century of independence, Ireland is at such an interesting point in its history. The Naked Irish: Portrait of a Nation Beyond the Clichés is an examination of the national stereotypes, and a reminder that they are not set in stone.
Described by the Business Post as a “high-definition snapshot of a country in flux”, The Naked Irish draws on Irish culture, history, politics and economics, as well as personal reportage and memoir.
Are the Irish a nation of emigrants if we have the second highest foreign-born population in Europe? Are we Catholic if attendance at Mass is as low as two percent in some parishes? Do we really hate the English and want a united Ireland? Is the oppression of women in our DNA? And are the Irish really friendly or just faking it?
All these questions and more are answered in The Naked Irish, which covers everything from the Penal Laws to the Magdalene Laundries to the Troika. You can read an extract from the book published in The Irish Times online edition.
Clare O'Dea 