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All Things Considered

Cairo's Tahrir Square (seen here in January) isn't actually a square — it's a traffic circle. And today, years after it was the site of anti-government demonstrations, it's a beautifully manicured, sterile space. Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

Book News & Features

From Tahrir To Tiananmen, 'City Squares' Can't Escape Their History

Governments have tried to erase the evidence of some squares' troubled pasts, but that doesn't mean they've been forgotten. A new book gathers writers' thoughts about famous squares around the world.

Cairo's Tahrir Square (seen here in January) isn't actually a square — it's a traffic circle. And today, years after it was the site of anti-government demonstrations, it's a beautifully manicured, sterile space. Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

From Tahrir To Tiananmen, 'City Squares' Can't Escape Their History

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A waiter carries beers at the Theresienwiese fair grounds of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, southern Germany, last September. For centuries, a German law has stipulated that beer can only be made from four ingredients. But as Germany embraces craft beer, some believe the law impedes good brewing. Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP/Getty Images

Germany's Beer Purity Law Is 500 Years Old. Is It Past Its Sell-By Date?

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