Since his first visit to Madrid in 1984, Luke Stegemann has been in love with the capital. He left a comfortable life in Australia to teach English on Arenal Street. As he discovered the city’s fascinating history, he felt the need to write about it, to show the English-speaking public a welcoming and charming metropolis that has remained in the shadow of other European capitals (such as France or Italy) for centuries. Thus was born the book Madrid, historia de una ciudad de éxito.
Stegemann’s book aspires to be a bridge between Madrid and the English-speaking world; to break with the prejudice -according to the author- that the capital is a “dirty, ugly, sterile and chaotic” place between Africa and Europe. “The city is magnificent without being so to all appearances; it has never worried too much about its reputation -Madrid has combined, paradoxically, an enormous pride with a lack of self-esteem- and has kept its secrets safe,” explains the professor in his work.
The essay makes a fervent journey through the highlights of the capital, since Philip II decided to settle in it until the democratic transition of the seventies, through the discoveries of the Golden Age, the victory in the War of Independence and many other key periods to understand the importance of the city historically.
A book as a letter of love
On July 1, Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida participated in the presentation of the essay. With Stegemann to his left, he explained to Telemadrid journalists that “Luke has written this book from a declaration of unconditional love, which is not only to see the virtues, but also the defects of what is loved, in this case Madrid.” Since then, the Stegemann name has found its way into the editorial offices of such influential newspapers as The Time.