The heart of Amsterdam, like that of its Adriatic counterpart Venice, is a concentration of elegant buildings connected by a network of canals. Although a few mediaeval and 16th-century buildings remain, the architectural style we associate most with Amsterdam stems from its "Golden Age". At this time, during the 17th and 18th centuries, Amsterdam was the trading centre of northern Europe. Canals were constructed as a series of great semicircles around the older core of the city, and lined on both sides with the fine, gabled houses that remain to this day. More than many other old cities, historic Amsterdam is "all of a piece", and exceptionally appealing to the eye. It is not a large city by world standards, and it is not particularly suitable for automobile traffic. For these very reasons it is very rewarding for the stroller on foot. Graham Byfield sees Amsterdam with the eye of an artist, while Hinke Wiggers, a historian, interprets and provides context to his art. In over 150 watercolour paintings and sketches, Byfield takes us on a tour of canals, streets, bridges, and squares, enlivened by the trams and bicycles which are part of the city"s modern identity. He captures the unity and the subtle diversity of the canalscape, while not forgetting the great public and residential buildings put up in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the age of industry started to find architectural expression. An Introduction by Wiggers traces the history of Amsterdam from humble beginnings as a small settlement, through expansion and growth to culmination in global political and commercial power. It portrays also the Amsterdam of today, a city which underwent the traumas of occupation and near-starvation during World War II, but went on to foster Europe?s most progressive youth culture.