Download or read book Switzerland: A Village History written by D. Birmingham and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2000-05-09 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Switzerland is a remarkable country half of whose territory lies in the Alps. The raising of cattle and the making of cheese eventually brought a modest wealth to the peasants but the destructive Napoleonic invasion brought revolution and poverty. The democratic unification of Switzerland created a common market and a single currency. This history of one alpine village illustrates a one-thousand-year struggle for survival on the edge of this white wilderness.