Although relatively small among the world’s leading cities, few others can rival Brussels as a major center. It is the capital of Belgium, for a start. But it is also gradually becoming the institutional heart of the Eu- ropean Union, the largest economic and increasingly political organiza- tion around, with a good chance of one day becoming the capital of Eu- rope. In addition, it is the site of a hundred other organizations, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the biggest and most powerful military alliance the world has ever seen, with members on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet, it could hardly be said that much has been written about Brussels in English, and, of this, more than enough seems to be devoted to the more quaint or touristic aspects than to the city’s turbulent history, when its citizens repeatedly fought for their in- dependence against the great kingdoms and empires of the age, or the ongoing quarrels between linguistic groups that are shaping it today.