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Gouden Eeuw: Het raadsel van de Republiek
Maarten Prak charts the political, social, economic and cultural history of the Golden Age through chapters that range from the introduction of the tulip to the experience of immigrants and Jews in Dutch society, the paintings of Vermeer and Rembrandt, and the ideas of Spinoza. He sets the Dutch experience within a European context and examines the extent to which the Golden Age was a product of its own past or the harbinger of the more modern, industrialized and enlightened society of the future. This accessible study will prove invaluable reading to anyone interested in Dutch history.
341 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2005
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About the author
Maarten Prak
32 books14 followersProfessor of Social and Economic History at Utrecht University.
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January 9, 2018Having had a Golden Age is a problem, even for Holland, Prak tells us in the introduction to his book. While you can feel pride in its accomplishments this is inevitably mingled with more troubling emotions, since that age is over something must have gone wrong "someone had blundered". Admiration of the positive is mixed with shame and embarrassment, feelings of superiority and inferiority walk hand in hand.
The other problem is also one of perspective - looking at the past as the harbinger of the present. Assessing it as successful when it is assumed to be 'modern' and like the present, condemning it for being medieval by doing things differently to us today. Prak, in line with von Ranke, aims to see the seventeenth century Dutch in their own context as a unique culture. Implicit in Prak's book is the idea that earlier Dutch uniqueness in Europe helps to explain the eventual stagnation of the Netherlands from the end of the Seventeenth century onwards.
Dutch society was unusual in two ways that were to be particularly significant. Firstly already since the middle ages the geography had led on the one hand to intensive agricultural systems and on the other to trade, importing grain from the Baltic region. Secondly the Eighty years war with Spain for Independence had disrupted the old trade networks and depopulated the regions that were being fought over. Since the towns in the newly independent provinces were safe and (mostly) open to immigration , and since some of the incomers had capital and their trade contacts, there was a demand for investment in housing, fortification, services and production, there was an existing network of trading contacts into the Baltic and a relatively specialised economy even to the extent of where animal dung was imported from to fertilise the fields in the Veluwe. All of this contributed to a relatively vibrant economy, highly urbanised and literate, growing at perhaps one and a half percent per annum on average for much of the century. There was a wealth of new opportunities both in the Netherlands and in its overseas interests.
However by the end of the Seventeenth century, protectionism in England and France closed markets to Dutch manufactured goods from pipes to ships, Capital shifted from commercial investments into buying debt, wealth concentrated upwards and war with France on and off from the 1670s until the peace of Utrecht in 1713 seems to have strained the country to greater extent than the long war with Spain a century earlier.
Prak draws attention to the counter intuitive issues - the political set-up was rather more like the EU than the contemporary Netherlands, with states, even individual towns governing themselves, pooling sovereignty to a limited extent in a central authority whose role was restricted. However this proved a source of strength. Local authorities were closely integrated into local elites and relatively responsive to local needs, this was to lead to increasing toleration of non-Calvinists, not out of a noble principle but out of the desire to shift the burden of poverty relief to all the churches something which was impossible if they were illegal. That the authorities were close, in all senses, to local elites Prak argues encouraged those elites to invest in state debt. The people they were dealing with were in no way remote or distant, it was possible to trust them with your money. The Netherlands was not to default on its borrowing until 1715 and was able to borrow at as little as four percent.
Equally although the Dutch economy was in some ways modern, even Capitalist, with a high degree of specialisation of labour with entire towns concentrating on particular types of work whether making cheese for the export market or bleaching clothes it was also medieval in that it was dominated by guilds. Again this worked well - the guild structure provided a range of benefits including welfare payments to widows, income support and assistance with burial for impoverished guild members which given the rapid urban growth and numbers of immigrants must have been especially valuable for those lacking family networks to fall back on. In another sign that they were leaving the middle ages behind, the guilds were largely successful in pushing women out of regulated artisan work, with the partial exception of dressmaking, although there were some exceptions like Judith Leyster.
On the other hand, without wider prosperity among neighbouring countries all this economic preciosity limited the potential for sustained prosperity. Prak argues here that the tulip mania was a positive indicator, investment in tulip bulbs indicating the amount of money washing about in the economy.
A book like this is a only one possible survey of the subject. A different author may have brought different topics to the foreground - perhaps women or children, or the law. Or made more of an emphasis of Dutch colonial history, as this period saw the foundation of New Amsterdam (lately better known as New York), the cape colony and the transformational impact of the Dutch in the far east where they reshaped the spice trade determining and limiting what spices were grown where to maximise profit. Still Prak's book has a fat bibliographic essay holding out the tempting promise of further riches to investigate.
I was particularly struck by the self-conscious referencing of Venice made by Amsterdam in its civic art and the similarities between the long chain of city states from the Netherlands to north-Italy which in this period were losing the ability to outperform the larger territorial states which bordered them. If at first Amsterdam and the Netherlands looked to Venice as a role model, later in the period Venice was to look admiringly at the successes of the Dutch republic. It was in this context that the Amsterdam city father's rejected Rembrant's huge painting of Claudius Civilis. Like any self-respecting seventeenth-century state they wanted to stress their classical heritage but they wanted that to be portrayed in a slightly more upbeat manner, appropriate to their self-image .
In this book, part of a series on Dutch history of which I believe only this volume has been translated into English, Prak takes a thematic approach to the subject, with sixteen chapters gathered into four parts. He starts with the political and military background , before looking at the economy & society (including the Dutch colonies and worldwide trade), politics & governance and the urban society of the Netherlands. This leads to the same events on occasion being discussed on different occasions but equally this does mean that you can dip in and out, or skip chapters that don't capture your interest. It is illustrated, although in black and white, and really given the subject matter you could have a wealth of colour illustrations. These guys are an example of an militia company memorialising themselves, or one could have a view of Delft with a barge in the foreground, or perhaps simply illustrate the surrender of Breda to the Spanish in 1625. Then again genre paintings were intended to appeal to the lower end of the art market and who would want to encourage that?
The other problem is also one of perspective - looking at the past as the harbinger of the present. Assessing it as successful when it is assumed to be 'modern' and like the present, condemning it for being medieval by doing things differently to us today. Prak, in line with von Ranke, aims to see the seventeenth century Dutch in their own context as a unique culture. Implicit in Prak's book is the idea that earlier Dutch uniqueness in Europe helps to explain the eventual stagnation of the Netherlands from the end of the Seventeenth century onwards.
Dutch society was unusual in two ways that were to be particularly significant. Firstly already since the middle ages the geography had led on the one hand to intensive agricultural systems and on the other to trade, importing grain from the Baltic region. Secondly the Eighty years war with Spain for Independence had disrupted the old trade networks and depopulated the regions that were being fought over. Since the towns in the newly independent provinces were safe and (mostly) open to immigration , and since some of the incomers had capital and their trade contacts, there was a demand for investment in housing, fortification, services and production, there was an existing network of trading contacts into the Baltic and a relatively specialised economy even to the extent of where animal dung was imported from to fertilise the fields in the Veluwe. All of this contributed to a relatively vibrant economy, highly urbanised and literate, growing at perhaps one and a half percent per annum on average for much of the century. There was a wealth of new opportunities both in the Netherlands and in its overseas interests.
However by the end of the Seventeenth century, protectionism in England and France closed markets to Dutch manufactured goods from pipes to ships, Capital shifted from commercial investments into buying debt, wealth concentrated upwards and war with France on and off from the 1670s until the peace of Utrecht in 1713 seems to have strained the country to greater extent than the long war with Spain a century earlier.
Prak draws attention to the counter intuitive issues - the political set-up was rather more like the EU than the contemporary Netherlands, with states, even individual towns governing themselves, pooling sovereignty to a limited extent in a central authority whose role was restricted. However this proved a source of strength. Local authorities were closely integrated into local elites and relatively responsive to local needs, this was to lead to increasing toleration of non-Calvinists, not out of a noble principle but out of the desire to shift the burden of poverty relief to all the churches something which was impossible if they were illegal. That the authorities were close, in all senses, to local elites Prak argues encouraged those elites to invest in state debt. The people they were dealing with were in no way remote or distant, it was possible to trust them with your money. The Netherlands was not to default on its borrowing until 1715 and was able to borrow at as little as four percent.
Equally although the Dutch economy was in some ways modern, even Capitalist, with a high degree of specialisation of labour with entire towns concentrating on particular types of work whether making cheese for the export market or bleaching clothes it was also medieval in that it was dominated by guilds. Again this worked well - the guild structure provided a range of benefits including welfare payments to widows, income support and assistance with burial for impoverished guild members which given the rapid urban growth and numbers of immigrants must have been especially valuable for those lacking family networks to fall back on. In another sign that they were leaving the middle ages behind, the guilds were largely successful in pushing women out of regulated artisan work, with the partial exception of dressmaking, although there were some exceptions like Judith Leyster.
On the other hand, without wider prosperity among neighbouring countries all this economic preciosity limited the potential for sustained prosperity. Prak argues here that the tulip mania was a positive indicator, investment in tulip bulbs indicating the amount of money washing about in the economy.
A book like this is a only one possible survey of the subject. A different author may have brought different topics to the foreground - perhaps women or children, or the law. Or made more of an emphasis of Dutch colonial history, as this period saw the foundation of New Amsterdam (lately better known as New York), the cape colony and the transformational impact of the Dutch in the far east where they reshaped the spice trade determining and limiting what spices were grown where to maximise profit. Still Prak's book has a fat bibliographic essay holding out the tempting promise of further riches to investigate.
I was particularly struck by the self-conscious referencing of Venice made by Amsterdam in its civic art and the similarities between the long chain of city states from the Netherlands to north-Italy which in this period were losing the ability to outperform the larger territorial states which bordered them. If at first Amsterdam and the Netherlands looked to Venice as a role model, later in the period Venice was to look admiringly at the successes of the Dutch republic. It was in this context that the Amsterdam city father's rejected Rembrant's huge painting of Claudius Civilis. Like any self-respecting seventeenth-century state they wanted to stress their classical heritage but they wanted that to be portrayed in a slightly more upbeat manner, appropriate to their self-image .
In this book, part of a series on Dutch history of which I believe only this volume has been translated into English, Prak takes a thematic approach to the subject, with sixteen chapters gathered into four parts. He starts with the political and military background , before looking at the economy & society (including the Dutch colonies and worldwide trade), politics & governance and the urban society of the Netherlands. This leads to the same events on occasion being discussed on different occasions but equally this does mean that you can dip in and out, or skip chapters that don't capture your interest. It is illustrated, although in black and white, and really given the subject matter you could have a wealth of colour illustrations. These guys are an example of an militia company memorialising themselves, or one could have a view of Delft with a barge in the foreground, or perhaps simply illustrate the surrender of Breda to the Spanish in 1625. Then again genre paintings were intended to appeal to the lower end of the art market and who would want to encourage that?
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April 16, 2019Het eerste overzichtswerk van de Republiek van Nederlandse bodem. De ingewikkelde tijd van de zeventiende eeuw wordt er helderder door.
Leuk weetje: toen al tekende de Randstad zich af door de ontwikkeling van het trekvaartensysteem tussen de grote steden.
Leuk weetje: toen al tekende de Randstad zich af door de ontwikkeling van het trekvaartensysteem tussen de grote steden.
January 19, 2020
De afgelopen maanden gebruikte ik dit boek als onderdeel van mijn studie. In 'Gouden Eeuw: het raadsel van de Republiek' hoopte ik vooral nieuwe dingen te ontdekken. Achteraf gezien had ik sterk het idee dat veel informatie uit het boek vrij basic was.
Uiteraard bekijk ik dit boek deels als een schoolboek, waardoor ik moet concluderen dat hij niet zo handig in gebruik is. Voornamelijk de doorlopende teksten en het grote gemis aan meer tussentitels maakte de leeservaring vaak slopend. Uiteraard is zoiets snel opgelost om zelf de alinea's van tussentitels te voorzien. Als leesboek zou mij dit echter ook storen. Ik hou van teksten die een duidelijke structuur weergeven, en dat miste ik soms iets te veel.
Over het algemeen vond ik het wel een aangenaam boek. Alleen waren sommige zinnen echt draken en moest je enkele malen lezen om te ontdekken wat de auteur nu precies wilde zeggen. Overigens had ik ook graag wat meer beeldmateriaal gezien. Bij boeken zoals deze vind ik het namelijk belangrijk dat ik een duidelijk beeld kan schetsen van die periode.
Ik vind het overigens wel een van de betere boeken -inhoudelijk- over de Gouden Eeuw. Voor mij was vooral de vormgeving en structuur iets te chaotisch.
Uiteraard bekijk ik dit boek deels als een schoolboek, waardoor ik moet concluderen dat hij niet zo handig in gebruik is. Voornamelijk de doorlopende teksten en het grote gemis aan meer tussentitels maakte de leeservaring vaak slopend. Uiteraard is zoiets snel opgelost om zelf de alinea's van tussentitels te voorzien. Als leesboek zou mij dit echter ook storen. Ik hou van teksten die een duidelijke structuur weergeven, en dat miste ik soms iets te veel.
Over het algemeen vond ik het wel een aangenaam boek. Alleen waren sommige zinnen echt draken en moest je enkele malen lezen om te ontdekken wat de auteur nu precies wilde zeggen. Overigens had ik ook graag wat meer beeldmateriaal gezien. Bij boeken zoals deze vind ik het namelijk belangrijk dat ik een duidelijk beeld kan schetsen van die periode.
Ik vind het overigens wel een van de betere boeken -inhoudelijk- over de Gouden Eeuw. Voor mij was vooral de vormgeving en structuur iets te chaotisch.
December 19, 2019
In dit boek stelt Prak de volgende vraag: Waarom kon de Republiek der Nederlanden in de zeventiende eeuw zo'n ongekende bloei doormaken? Via een thematische aanpak probeert Maarten Prak deze vraag te beantwoorden.
De Republiek was een vat vol tegenstrijdigheden; aan de ene kant wilden de provincies een gemeenschappelijk bestuur vormen, anderzijds moest dit zeker niet ten koste gaan van de eigen voorrechten en gebruiken. Dankzij de grote hoeveelheden geld, zoals Prak noemt ‘de beste smeerolie voor het politiek bestel’, het nodige kunst en vliegwerk, en de gezamenlijke tegenstander konden voldoende compromissen worden gesloten om een effectieve buitenlandse politiek te voeren en de wereldwijde economische belangen te behartigen. Tot slot was de Republiek het meest verstedelijkte en geletterde land ter wereld met een gemeenschappelijke taal en geschiedenis en belangstelling voor de kunsten.
De Republiek was een vat vol tegenstrijdigheden; aan de ene kant wilden de provincies een gemeenschappelijk bestuur vormen, anderzijds moest dit zeker niet ten koste gaan van de eigen voorrechten en gebruiken. Dankzij de grote hoeveelheden geld, zoals Prak noemt ‘de beste smeerolie voor het politiek bestel’, het nodige kunst en vliegwerk, en de gezamenlijke tegenstander konden voldoende compromissen worden gesloten om een effectieve buitenlandse politiek te voeren en de wereldwijde economische belangen te behartigen. Tot slot was de Republiek het meest verstedelijkte en geletterde land ter wereld met een gemeenschappelijke taal en geschiedenis en belangstelling voor de kunsten.
January 23, 2021
Momenteel de npo-serie Strijd aan het Binnenhof aan het kijken waarbij onder meer Van Oldenbarnevelt en de broertjes De Witt voorbij komen. Daarnaast eindigde onlangs de termijn van Maarten Prak als bestuurslid bij de KNAW, dus een mooi moment om zijn handboek over de Gouden Eeuw eens te lezen.
Voor een leek als ik leest het erg prettig. Zeer helder en begrijpelijk geschreven en geduid. Soms wat ouderwets taalgebruik in de goede zin van het woord. Geen vuistdikke pil van 1.200 pagina’s zoals het standaardwerk van Jonathan Israel. Daarentegen krijg je in nog geen driehonderd bladzijden een behapbaar overzicht dat begint met de aanloop eind 16e eeuw tijdens de jaren van Opstand onder Willem van Oranje en eindigt met het staatsbankroet in 1715.
De opzet beviel me ook erg goed. De indeling is grotendeels thematisch en daarbinnen chronologisch. Hoofdstukken dus over oorlog, financiën, bestuur, handel, rijkdom, armoede, verdeeldheid, macht, geloof, schilderkunst en architectuur.
Ik merkte dat veel puzzelstukjes al wel ergens rondzwierven daarboven in de grijze massa. Die liggen nu weer keurig op hun plek.
Ik las de tweede druk uit mei 2002 van Menno. Onlangs is een herziene uitgave verschenen.
Voor een leek als ik leest het erg prettig. Zeer helder en begrijpelijk geschreven en geduid. Soms wat ouderwets taalgebruik in de goede zin van het woord. Geen vuistdikke pil van 1.200 pagina’s zoals het standaardwerk van Jonathan Israel. Daarentegen krijg je in nog geen driehonderd bladzijden een behapbaar overzicht dat begint met de aanloop eind 16e eeuw tijdens de jaren van Opstand onder Willem van Oranje en eindigt met het staatsbankroet in 1715.
De opzet beviel me ook erg goed. De indeling is grotendeels thematisch en daarbinnen chronologisch. Hoofdstukken dus over oorlog, financiën, bestuur, handel, rijkdom, armoede, verdeeldheid, macht, geloof, schilderkunst en architectuur.
Ik merkte dat veel puzzelstukjes al wel ergens rondzwierven daarboven in de grijze massa. Die liggen nu weer keurig op hun plek.
Ik las de tweede druk uit mei 2002 van Menno. Onlangs is een herziene uitgave verschenen.
July 12, 2022
Leuk om vaderlandse geschiedenis bij te spijkeren, maar leest niet lekker. Alleen de hoofdstukken zijn chronologisch, waardoor het totaalplaatje zoek is. Bevat veel details die het verhaal alleen maar onduidelijker maken en de aandacht wegnemen van waar het om draait.
March 8, 2015
I feel mixed about this book. Prak has a tough job--portraying a "nation" before it was a nation or even saw itself as having anything in common is difficult. See, even moving from singular to plural gets confusing. It was not one thing--not even when it was one thing.... But I don't know if he did a very good job of conveying an understanding of how things worked. I also found his change at the end to cultural history abrupt. I did learn, especially about what he feels is central to the success of the Republic--good credit. I haven't read enough to compare his successes and failures to other historians. Perhaps it is doomed to just be darned confusing.....
October 13, 2012
Many people reference Simon Schama's book on this topic. This one is much better.
March 12, 2024
Too many names and dates for a country like the Netherlands
September 3, 2023
An excellent textbook-style treatment of the most consequential time in Dutch history. The first part, the military history, is of necessity quite chaotic and senseless. The other parts, dealing with social history, trade, science, and art more than make up for it. Highly readable, with plenty of informative and original anecdotes drawn from primary sources, it drops enough names to stimulate further study without losing the student who does not really wish to know more.
If a tiny country in a state of perpetual war, with ill-defined political system, and no significant natural resources can become a military, scientific, artistic, and trade powerhouse through the sweat and blood of its inhabitants, then certainly a huge country can waste its blessings of perpetual peace, internal stability, and unlimited natural resources by electing worthless hucksters, exhibitionists, and dotards, and cook itself to death while debating psychotic absurdities and injecting opioids. Aaand that is the take-home lesson for today, kids.
If a tiny country in a state of perpetual war, with ill-defined political system, and no significant natural resources can become a military, scientific, artistic, and trade powerhouse through the sweat and blood of its inhabitants, then certainly a huge country can waste its blessings of perpetual peace, internal stability, and unlimited natural resources by electing worthless hucksters, exhibitionists, and dotards, and cook itself to death while debating psychotic absurdities and injecting opioids. Aaand that is the take-home lesson for today, kids.
July 17, 2018
de Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden was een onwaarschijnlijke samenloop van omstandigheden en samenwerking van zeer uiteenlopende landsdelen. Maarten Prak beschrijft in een bondige stijl hoe die samenwerking van verschillende provinciale staten en de steden min of meer toevallig en noodgedwongen tot stand kwam, nooit vanzelf ging, maar wel leidde tot de opkomst van een wereldmacht en een enorme welvaart.
Hier en daar wordt een hoofdstuk ingeleid met een anekdote over een persoonlijke geschiedenis, wat niet echt past bij het rechttoe-rechtaan proza van de rest van het boek, en ook worden sommige episodes herhaalt, maar verder valt er op dit boek eigenlijk niets aan te merken.
Hier en daar wordt een hoofdstuk ingeleid met een anekdote over een persoonlijke geschiedenis, wat niet echt past bij het rechttoe-rechtaan proza van de rest van het boek, en ook worden sommige episodes herhaalt, maar verder valt er op dit boek eigenlijk niets aan te merken.
October 22, 2025
"Het Raadsel van de Republiek" van Maarten Prak voor de 2e keer gelezen. Goed geschreven boek: leest lekker weg.
Wat me de 2e keer vooral opvalt is hoeveel Nederland in de Gouden eeuw lijkt op de huidige EU:
-onduidelijk, zwakke centrale overheid
-provincies en steden die zich autonoom wanen.
-beslissingen uitsluitend bij concensus
-grote verschillen tussen rijke en arme provincies
-massa emigratie
Toch heeft het meer dan 100 jaar gewerkt.
Een aanrader als je het huidige Nederland beter wilt begrijpen.
Wat me de 2e keer vooral opvalt is hoeveel Nederland in de Gouden eeuw lijkt op de huidige EU:
-onduidelijk, zwakke centrale overheid
-provincies en steden die zich autonoom wanen.
-beslissingen uitsluitend bij concensus
-grote verschillen tussen rijke en arme provincies
-massa emigratie
Toch heeft het meer dan 100 jaar gewerkt.
Een aanrader als je het huidige Nederland beter wilt begrijpen.
July 11, 2023
Moie geschiedenis van de 17e eeuw in de repunliek bezien vsnuit de economie, Transport, politiek, religie en kunst.. ook de gewone man wordt in beeld gebracht.
November 19, 2020
Very comprehensive and well written
I found this to be a very enjoyable and highly informative read. I've always had a curiosity about how such a small country could make such a well know impact on the world. This book has definitely answered many of the questions I had about the Dutch. They were a first rate superpower in their own right, on par with England, France and Spain but only a fraction of their size. I see the modern urbanized and economic world has very much to thank the Dutch for. The were the first modern economy even before the Industrial Revolution. Their canal network was very impressive and highly complex spanning over 600 km and connecting over 30 cities which is extraordinary to me given most of it was done as public works and mainly to just support their own internal trade and population movement. Some of the greatest philosophers and naturalists also hailed from the Republic at this time.
When buying the book I thought it was going to be more like a college textbook, but it was written more like an engrossing lecture on many different topics of the Dutch Golden Age.
Also excellent sources were given in the Afterwards for further reading of anything caught your particular interest.
I recommend this book to all history fans or anyone interested in learning more about the Dutch or even someone who may be planing a visit to the Netherlands.
I found this to be a very enjoyable and highly informative read. I've always had a curiosity about how such a small country could make such a well know impact on the world. This book has definitely answered many of the questions I had about the Dutch. They were a first rate superpower in their own right, on par with England, France and Spain but only a fraction of their size. I see the modern urbanized and economic world has very much to thank the Dutch for. The were the first modern economy even before the Industrial Revolution. Their canal network was very impressive and highly complex spanning over 600 km and connecting over 30 cities which is extraordinary to me given most of it was done as public works and mainly to just support their own internal trade and population movement. Some of the greatest philosophers and naturalists also hailed from the Republic at this time.
When buying the book I thought it was going to be more like a college textbook, but it was written more like an engrossing lecture on many different topics of the Dutch Golden Age.
Also excellent sources were given in the Afterwards for further reading of anything caught your particular interest.
I recommend this book to all history fans or anyone interested in learning more about the Dutch or even someone who may be planing a visit to the Netherlands.
October 21, 2023
I’m a fan of Dutch painting; both my in-laws grew up in the Netherlands; my wife speaks Dutch, and we’ve visited the country and her relatives half a dozen times. So it was time I familiarized myself with Dutch history, in particular the 17th century, known as the Golden Age, when the Dutch Republic became a great European power on par with England and France. Even Russian Emperor, Peter the Great, visited to learn shipbuilding. In 16 chapters and less than 300 pages, Maarten Prak provides a thorough overview of the Dutch economy, particularly its worldwide trading network and the military that protected it, of the confederation of provinces and cities, their politics, the life of the people, their religion, and their innovations in philosophy, science and art. Prak explains that it was the loose confederation, which balanced the desire of the provinces to be independent and their need to band together for defense, that made possible the Republic’s economic success and international power. A comparison with Ancient Greece comes to my mind, especially Amsterdam with Athens, Attica with Holland, their two navies, and their major contributions to science, philosophy and art. Each country peaked in influence for a century before being reduced to a second rate power by the overwhelming strength of surrounding enemies.
September 27, 2007
This book was really just okay, but I give it a bonus star for its riveting passage about the tulip mania of 1637.
November 20, 2007
Standard, totally readable and reliable. Decent size, moderate detail.
February 12, 2014
It's a competent overview and I feel as though I have some basic info, but I'd like a more comprehensive overview.
May 2, 2017
Niet heel soepel leesbaar, maar wel interessant.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews