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Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory
An exploration of the relationship of competition and assimilation between England and the Netherlands during the 17th century, revealing how Dutch tolerance, resilience and commercial acumen effectively conquered England by permanently reshaping the intellectual landscape long before Dutch monarchs sat on the English throne.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2008
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649 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Jardine
40 books45 followersLisa Anne Bronowski (Jardine) was a British historian of the early modern period. From 1990 to 2011 she was Centenary Professor of Renaissance Studies and Director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters at Queen Mary, University of London. Since 2008 she was Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)] She was a Member of Council of the Royal Institution, but resigned from that post in September 2009. On 1 September 2012, She relocated with her research centre and its staff to University College London (UCL) to become the first director of its Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Humanities.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
April 12, 2010
The subject matter of this book was quite interesting to me, but as an example of historical writing I was disappointed. Even in the paperback edition, the book is larded with color illustrations of 17th-century art, and I'm impressed with the publisher's commitment to the project (and/or Jardine's ability to get the publisher to go along with this), but Jardine really doesn't do much with this material. Often she uses period paintings merely as pictures of individuals named in the text, and when she does discuss art as such, it is as a commodity for conspicuous consumption by elites, nothing more. So Dutch art found its way to England -- that is interesting enough as a window into the trans-national culture of elites at the time, but it would be far more interesting to take a long look at what Dutch artists were doing and to examine whether their ideas and techniques were influential. She does some of this when she gets to gardening and science, but not enough. Little emerges from the art of Dutch (or English) culture, and in this regard the book compares very poorly to Simon Schama's The Embarrassment of Riches (a high bar, true).
One also wonders whether the relationship she describes between English and Dutch elites is atypical of the relationship between elites of other neighboring countries. France frequently appears in the narrative, as one would expect, but it does not appear to have occurred to Jardine to compare the English or Dutch experience with each other with their ties with France. The Huygens family spoke English, but also French, and while Jardine does much with their visits to England, Christiaan Huygens lived in Paris and worked for the French king for several years. England was well-represented at the royal courts in The Hague, so apparently so were many other countries. Did England and Holland have a special relationship? After 360 pages, I'm not convinced.
The opening chapter, about the 1688 invasion by the Dutch (a/k/a the Glorious Revolution) is very well done. But the remainder of the book seems scattershot and unfocused. The problem is that Jardine leads with the last and best events, and uses the following chapters essentially to supply more context. Her selection of topics to examine is haphazard, and seems to feature a combination of new, compelling source (Huygens correspondence abounds), material she already knows from other books (Hooke and timepieces), and material she feels duty-bound to discuss briefly but about which she has nothing new to add (tulips, Amsterdam's role as a financial and trading center, Dutch colonies in North America, competition between the Dutch and English in Asian trade). The last few chapters seem particularly sloppy, with non-sequiturs and a visible absence of critical thought. Jardine says she finished the book on a skiing vacation in the French Alps, and the end reads as if she typed it in a hurry to hit the slopes.
The more I think about it, even the first chapter leaves significant questions unanswered. Jardine suggests that one of the most interesting things about the Glorious Revolution is the way that, in retrospect, the fact that it turned on a Dutch invasion has been willfully forgotten. As she argues, this was made easy by the affinity between the two countries, which led to widespread of acceptance of William following his landing in Devon. But as he marched on London, Jardine describes that it was the lower and middle classes who openly supported him, while the aristocracy often hedged its bets, not necessarily opposing the Dutch but also not openly joining the cause, rather waiting to see who would prevail. This undercuts the premise of the rest of the book, which chronicles the ties between the upper classes on either side of the North Sea. Notwithstanding the close relationship, the English aristocracy evidently was slower to warm to William and Mary than was the rest of the populace. Perhaps there were unique affinities between the lower and middle classes as well, or perhaps William's Protestant faith was more important in this regard than his home across the waters. (Of these explanations, the last seems more plausible, but more on the basis of my own supposition rather than anything in Jardine's book.) Perhaps the views of the English elites were critical to James II's decision not to battle the advancing Dutch army, but if so Jardine sheds no light on the matter.
So, color me disappointed.
One also wonders whether the relationship she describes between English and Dutch elites is atypical of the relationship between elites of other neighboring countries. France frequently appears in the narrative, as one would expect, but it does not appear to have occurred to Jardine to compare the English or Dutch experience with each other with their ties with France. The Huygens family spoke English, but also French, and while Jardine does much with their visits to England, Christiaan Huygens lived in Paris and worked for the French king for several years. England was well-represented at the royal courts in The Hague, so apparently so were many other countries. Did England and Holland have a special relationship? After 360 pages, I'm not convinced.
The opening chapter, about the 1688 invasion by the Dutch (a/k/a the Glorious Revolution) is very well done. But the remainder of the book seems scattershot and unfocused. The problem is that Jardine leads with the last and best events, and uses the following chapters essentially to supply more context. Her selection of topics to examine is haphazard, and seems to feature a combination of new, compelling source (Huygens correspondence abounds), material she already knows from other books (Hooke and timepieces), and material she feels duty-bound to discuss briefly but about which she has nothing new to add (tulips, Amsterdam's role as a financial and trading center, Dutch colonies in North America, competition between the Dutch and English in Asian trade). The last few chapters seem particularly sloppy, with non-sequiturs and a visible absence of critical thought. Jardine says she finished the book on a skiing vacation in the French Alps, and the end reads as if she typed it in a hurry to hit the slopes.
The more I think about it, even the first chapter leaves significant questions unanswered. Jardine suggests that one of the most interesting things about the Glorious Revolution is the way that, in retrospect, the fact that it turned on a Dutch invasion has been willfully forgotten. As she argues, this was made easy by the affinity between the two countries, which led to widespread of acceptance of William following his landing in Devon. But as he marched on London, Jardine describes that it was the lower and middle classes who openly supported him, while the aristocracy often hedged its bets, not necessarily opposing the Dutch but also not openly joining the cause, rather waiting to see who would prevail. This undercuts the premise of the rest of the book, which chronicles the ties between the upper classes on either side of the North Sea. Notwithstanding the close relationship, the English aristocracy evidently was slower to warm to William and Mary than was the rest of the populace. Perhaps there were unique affinities between the lower and middle classes as well, or perhaps William's Protestant faith was more important in this regard than his home across the waters. (Of these explanations, the last seems more plausible, but more on the basis of my own supposition rather than anything in Jardine's book.) Perhaps the views of the English elites were critical to James II's decision not to battle the advancing Dutch army, but if so Jardine sheds no light on the matter.
So, color me disappointed.
August 28, 2013
When one thinks about the term conquest with England or Britain, the first thing that springs to mind is the Norman Conquest, not the Glorious Revolution. In part, Jardine tries to answer the question of why it wasn’t considered a conquest.
The opening chapters in this book are the strongest. Even though the focus is on the elites, the breakdown of the elite ties between the Netherlands and Britain is well thought out. However, the book weakens slightly and the reader is left wondering why Jardine simply didn’t write a book about the Huygens family. Because, the family seems to be the center of everything, the focal point of the melding of English and Dutch.
The opening chapters in this book are the strongest. Even though the focus is on the elites, the breakdown of the elite ties between the Netherlands and Britain is well thought out. However, the book weakens slightly and the reader is left wondering why Jardine simply didn’t write a book about the Huygens family. Because, the family seems to be the center of everything, the focal point of the melding of English and Dutch.
August 4, 2008
Full, slightly overblown title: Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland’s Glory. This is a book about the relationship between England and Holland in the C17th. It’s an interesting period, of course: the C17th was Holland’s ‘Golden Age’, when the country was not only a wealthy global power but at the intellectual and especially artistic forefront of Europe. For me, the art is especially remarkable: there are three of the all-time greats in Rembrandt, Rubens and Vermeer, and a huge number of other important artists like Gerrit Dou, Pieter de Hooch, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, and Aelbert Cuyp.
Indeed, not only were the Dutch producing lots of their own great artists: they exported them over the channel; most notably but not only Anthony Van Dyck and Peter Lely, who between them seem to have painted most of the society portraits in England at the time. And of course the other most notable Anglo-Dutch connection was that by the end of the century, England had acquired a Dutch king: William of Orange.
That acquisition is usually referred to by the British as ‘The Glorious Revolution’, a name which combines just the right amounts of grandeur and vagueness to discourage too much analysis. But as Jardine makes clear, seen from an outside perspective, and especially perhaps from a Dutch perspective, it looks an awful lot like the Dutch conquest of England. William sailed across the channel with a fleet of 500 ships and 40,000 men, including 20,000 armed troops, marched on London and took power. The only reason it can be remembered as anything Glorious, rather than a bloody conquest or yet another Anglo-Dutch war, is that James II didn’t put up a fight. He was unpopular with just about everyone, not least because he was Catholic, and not really getting on with his own army, and he decided to flee rather than press the issue. Who knows what would have happened if he’d been a little more forceful and decisive.
This was, in some ways, a family affair: William and his wife Mary were both grandchildren of Charles I. In fact they probably would have been most likely to succeed James II anyway, except that James’s wife, after a long string of miscarriages, unexpectedly produced a male baby and screwed everything up for the Oranges.
The strength of William-and-Mary’s claim to the throne made it easier for the English to accept them as joint monarch; Lisa Jardine’s books sets out to demonstrate that the tangled relationship between the Stuarts and the House of Orange is actually typical of a very strong cultural link between England and Holland throughout the C17th; that much of what became typically English, and much of the groundwork that enabled England to became a great power in the C18th and C19th, came from Holland.
She certainly successfully demonstrates an enormous amount of interaction between the two countries: in art, music, gardening, science and indeed socially. One of the most striking examples was the testing of Christian Huygens’s clock design on a British ship; Huygens had been corresponding with members of the Royal Society in London, who arranged for his new clock to be tested as a possible solution to the longtitude problem by a captain in the Royal Navy. On the very mission where he was testing this Dutch clock design, the captain plundered all the Dutch trading posts along the coast of Ghana, triggering the Second Anglo-Dutch War in the process. You might think this would interfere with relations between London and the Hague, but no, the correspondence carried on as though nothing had happened.
I suppose the only question a sceptical reader might have is whether you would find similar levels of influence and connection if you studied, say, Anglo-French relations at the same time. Is there a specific and exceptional connection between England and Holland at this period, or just the normal amount for two neighbouring countries? She seems pretty convincing to me, but I’m not in a position to judge.
Indeed, not only were the Dutch producing lots of their own great artists: they exported them over the channel; most notably but not only Anthony Van Dyck and Peter Lely, who between them seem to have painted most of the society portraits in England at the time. And of course the other most notable Anglo-Dutch connection was that by the end of the century, England had acquired a Dutch king: William of Orange.
That acquisition is usually referred to by the British as ‘The Glorious Revolution’, a name which combines just the right amounts of grandeur and vagueness to discourage too much analysis. But as Jardine makes clear, seen from an outside perspective, and especially perhaps from a Dutch perspective, it looks an awful lot like the Dutch conquest of England. William sailed across the channel with a fleet of 500 ships and 40,000 men, including 20,000 armed troops, marched on London and took power. The only reason it can be remembered as anything Glorious, rather than a bloody conquest or yet another Anglo-Dutch war, is that James II didn’t put up a fight. He was unpopular with just about everyone, not least because he was Catholic, and not really getting on with his own army, and he decided to flee rather than press the issue. Who knows what would have happened if he’d been a little more forceful and decisive.
This was, in some ways, a family affair: William and his wife Mary were both grandchildren of Charles I. In fact they probably would have been most likely to succeed James II anyway, except that James’s wife, after a long string of miscarriages, unexpectedly produced a male baby and screwed everything up for the Oranges.
The strength of William-and-Mary’s claim to the throne made it easier for the English to accept them as joint monarch; Lisa Jardine’s books sets out to demonstrate that the tangled relationship between the Stuarts and the House of Orange is actually typical of a very strong cultural link between England and Holland throughout the C17th; that much of what became typically English, and much of the groundwork that enabled England to became a great power in the C18th and C19th, came from Holland.
She certainly successfully demonstrates an enormous amount of interaction between the two countries: in art, music, gardening, science and indeed socially. One of the most striking examples was the testing of Christian Huygens’s clock design on a British ship; Huygens had been corresponding with members of the Royal Society in London, who arranged for his new clock to be tested as a possible solution to the longtitude problem by a captain in the Royal Navy. On the very mission where he was testing this Dutch clock design, the captain plundered all the Dutch trading posts along the coast of Ghana, triggering the Second Anglo-Dutch War in the process. You might think this would interfere with relations between London and the Hague, but no, the correspondence carried on as though nothing had happened.
I suppose the only question a sceptical reader might have is whether you would find similar levels of influence and connection if you studied, say, Anglo-French relations at the same time. Is there a specific and exceptional connection between England and Holland at this period, or just the normal amount for two neighbouring countries? She seems pretty convincing to me, but I’m not in a position to judge.
April 18, 2013
This is a very interesting book. On the positive side, I appreciate Jardine's effort to describe the social, artistic, familial, and scientific links between the 17th century Dutch and English. She does this well. She paints a clear and interesting picture of the glorious revolution and tensions, religious and otherwise, between royal factions and pretenders. I wish, though, she'd spent a little more time on the broader context: international conflict and the English civil war. Her assumption may be that this is redundant, and for many it may be, but it would have helped me. All in all, though, I enjoyed the read and, unlike some reviewers, the pictures as well.
February 15, 2010
The best of Lisa Jardine's books that I read so far. A fascinating account of the flow of knowledge, information, economic systems, art, poetry, music, wealth, garden design and royalty between England and Holland in the 1600s.
Has left me with the desire to do even more reading in this area, and about 5 books added to my reading list.
Has left me with the desire to do even more reading in this area, and about 5 books added to my reading list.
February 18, 2024
"Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory" is a fascinating deep dive into a pivotal era of history, exploring the rich tapestry of Dutch cultural, economic, and scientific achievements from the 16th to the 17th century. The book meticulously outlines how the Dutch, once a formidable force on the global stage, saw their influence wane as England emerged as a dominant power.
The author masterfully chronicles the rise and fall of the Dutch legacy, detailing pivotal moments such as the ill-fated sale of New York City—a transaction that epitomizes the strategic missteps leading to the Dutch losing their footholds in America, Asia, and Africa. This event is portrayed as one of the most significant blunders in Dutch colonial history, marking the beginning of a gradual decline in their overseas empire as British power surged.
What makes this book stand out is not just its comprehensive examination of historical events, but its vivid portrayal of Dutch contributions to the arts, economics, and science. The narrative brings to life the vibrancy of Dutch culture and its far-reaching influence, setting a stark contrast to the eventual ascendance of British influence that reshaped the contours of modern history.
The author doesn't merely recount facts; they weave a compelling story of two nations on diverging paths, where ambition, strategic misjudgments, and the relentless pursuit of power shift the balance of global dominance. The book serves as a poignant reminder of the transient nature of power and how quickly fortunes can change on the world stage.
"Going Dutch" is more than a history book; it's a thoughtful exploration of cultural and economic shifts, the complexities of colonialism, and the indelible impact of these dynamics on today's world. It is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the roots of modern global power structures and the intricate dance of progress, power, and decline. Through engaging prose and meticulous research, the book offers a window into a critical period of history that set the stage for the rise of the West and the shaping of the modern geopolitical landscape.
In conclusion, "Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory" is a compelling, insightful, and beautifully written account of a turning point in history. It not only chronicles the rise of English power but also celebrates the enduring legacy of Dutch culture and innovation, making it a must-read for history buffs and anyone fascinated by the forces that shape our world.
The author masterfully chronicles the rise and fall of the Dutch legacy, detailing pivotal moments such as the ill-fated sale of New York City—a transaction that epitomizes the strategic missteps leading to the Dutch losing their footholds in America, Asia, and Africa. This event is portrayed as one of the most significant blunders in Dutch colonial history, marking the beginning of a gradual decline in their overseas empire as British power surged.
What makes this book stand out is not just its comprehensive examination of historical events, but its vivid portrayal of Dutch contributions to the arts, economics, and science. The narrative brings to life the vibrancy of Dutch culture and its far-reaching influence, setting a stark contrast to the eventual ascendance of British influence that reshaped the contours of modern history.
The author doesn't merely recount facts; they weave a compelling story of two nations on diverging paths, where ambition, strategic misjudgments, and the relentless pursuit of power shift the balance of global dominance. The book serves as a poignant reminder of the transient nature of power and how quickly fortunes can change on the world stage.
"Going Dutch" is more than a history book; it's a thoughtful exploration of cultural and economic shifts, the complexities of colonialism, and the indelible impact of these dynamics on today's world. It is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the roots of modern global power structures and the intricate dance of progress, power, and decline. Through engaging prose and meticulous research, the book offers a window into a critical period of history that set the stage for the rise of the West and the shaping of the modern geopolitical landscape.
In conclusion, "Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory" is a compelling, insightful, and beautifully written account of a turning point in history. It not only chronicles the rise of English power but also celebrates the enduring legacy of Dutch culture and innovation, making it a must-read for history buffs and anyone fascinated by the forces that shape our world.
August 18, 2024
I loved this book. It was a wonderful dip into Anglo-dutch relations. Having said that, there is no thread of narrative. Lots of details sprinkled everywhere, but difficult to follow sometimes. I would absolutely recommend it, and yet I’m not sure it was particularly well written
October 14, 2015
I was doing some research on this novel for Anglo-Dutch historiography and have always been fascinated with De Ruyter, de With, Lord Ablemarle, and the old timey English and Dutch naval bosses of old. This book piqued my interest on the shelf and wanted to see if Jardine would give me clues as to how Holland with its huge edge in joint-stock and maintaining a stable country via the oligarchy they had for centuries and how England brought them down.
I was disappointed when I read this book more so because the whole book was just a story of how intermarriage and English desire to have a strong Protestant on the throne brought about England's rejuvenation of sea mastery. This is true yet the book never talked about French interventionism, the Treaty of Dover, or how the Dutch Navy collapsed under English and later British onslaught and mercantile encroachment which Colbert's policies created the blueprint for how Britain squelched the wealth out of Dutch hands.
Yet, in respect of this book the histories of the Dutch West India Company were really good but the book labored on the domestic quarrels of the Stuarts and Orangemen and did not explain the "eclipsing" of Anglo-Dutch rivalry that has been the focal point of discussion for centuries. This book was misnamed and overstated. The book also attempted to creep in how William III betrayed his own country for English wealth and prestige he sought to claim for himself and Mary. I was expecting a book to explain the Anglo-Dutch Wars in greater detail and also a book explaining how England managed to be one step ahead of a nation with such bridled potential; rich in culture and legacy as well.
This book could have been a lot better and Jardine does Anglo-Dutch historian lore a disservice by not telling the whole story outside of royal patrimony. You can read it if you want but there are better books out there.
I was disappointed when I read this book more so because the whole book was just a story of how intermarriage and English desire to have a strong Protestant on the throne brought about England's rejuvenation of sea mastery. This is true yet the book never talked about French interventionism, the Treaty of Dover, or how the Dutch Navy collapsed under English and later British onslaught and mercantile encroachment which Colbert's policies created the blueprint for how Britain squelched the wealth out of Dutch hands.
Yet, in respect of this book the histories of the Dutch West India Company were really good but the book labored on the domestic quarrels of the Stuarts and Orangemen and did not explain the "eclipsing" of Anglo-Dutch rivalry that has been the focal point of discussion for centuries. This book was misnamed and overstated. The book also attempted to creep in how William III betrayed his own country for English wealth and prestige he sought to claim for himself and Mary. I was expecting a book to explain the Anglo-Dutch Wars in greater detail and also a book explaining how England managed to be one step ahead of a nation with such bridled potential; rich in culture and legacy as well.
This book could have been a lot better and Jardine does Anglo-Dutch historian lore a disservice by not telling the whole story outside of royal patrimony. You can read it if you want but there are better books out there.
December 31, 2011
This handsome book starts off with an excellent chapter on the Dutch version of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when we kind of invited William of Orange to be our king and he arrived at the head of an enormous Armada and landed at Torbay in Devon, where he landed unopposed and was met with a curious crowd of children all smoking pipes. He then began a slow progress to London, stopping at the homes of English aristocrats with famous gardens on the way.
This is a riveting opening narrative History before progressing to the raison d’être of the book, the Dutch influence on the English. It is at this point that we meet the impressive Sir Constantijn Huygens and his remarkable family. Indeed, this book should have had a sub heading of “the redoubtable and splendid history of the well connected Huygen family”.
Far from the shared trading, architecture and marsh draining social history I was expecting this became an examination of how well connected the rich were with the rich abroad. Indeed, so well intermingled were the families, politics, hobbies and fashions of the Dutch and English (and French and others etc) that it was hard to see why we fought three Anglo Dutch walls at all! It would seem the well connected had more in common with each other than their own people. Same as it ever was.
This is a riveting opening narrative History before progressing to the raison d’être of the book, the Dutch influence on the English. It is at this point that we meet the impressive Sir Constantijn Huygens and his remarkable family. Indeed, this book should have had a sub heading of “the redoubtable and splendid history of the well connected Huygen family”.
Far from the shared trading, architecture and marsh draining social history I was expecting this became an examination of how well connected the rich were with the rich abroad. Indeed, so well intermingled were the families, politics, hobbies and fashions of the Dutch and English (and French and others etc) that it was hard to see why we fought three Anglo Dutch walls at all! It would seem the well connected had more in common with each other than their own people. Same as it ever was.
November 16, 2013
This started really interestingly, with an account of the Dutch invasion of 1688 which completely changed my perception of that event. Most historians make it send as though William turned up with a couple of fishing boats and a few horsemen, whereas it was 500 warships and 40,000 soldiers, mostly Dutch. The question she sets is essentially the one of why is it that the fact of military conquest has slipped the English national memory.
Sadly, I'm not sure she really ever answers the question. She does take us on a tour of Anglo Dutch Royal dynasties, court art, architecture, science and trade to show how interlinked the two countries were through the 17th century, despite a series of wars. I'm never quite convinced. I have a sneaking feeling that if another historian were to research the links between any two other countries in Europe in the same way, they might find similar symbioses.
Still, if you're interested in the period, and the relations between these two Protestant nations, it's to be recommended.
Sadly, I'm not sure she really ever answers the question. She does take us on a tour of Anglo Dutch Royal dynasties, court art, architecture, science and trade to show how interlinked the two countries were through the 17th century, despite a series of wars. I'm never quite convinced. I have a sneaking feeling that if another historian were to research the links between any two other countries in Europe in the same way, they might find similar symbioses.
Still, if you're interested in the period, and the relations between these two Protestant nations, it's to be recommended.
April 12, 2016
When I was in school we were all taught that the Glorious Revolution of 1688 was a universal English invitation to William and Mary to come over and rule after the dynastic failure of James II. Reading this enlightening book tells a different story: the GR was really a carefully planned invasion with lots of media spinning once the invader actually set his foot on English soil.
But there's a host of other dependencies and relationships between the two countries involved that the author sums up with this inclusive sentence on page 198: "Here, yet again, we have the threads of English and Dutch cultural activity becoming wound together in intricately complicated ways."
The interested and careful reader will learn of the many cultural, artistic, architectural, horticultural, scientific, financial and above all, religious connections that made a tighter Anglo-Dutch relationship good policy as an act of counter-balance to a threatening, ever-expansionistic and very Roman Catholic France.
But there's a host of other dependencies and relationships between the two countries involved that the author sums up with this inclusive sentence on page 198: "Here, yet again, we have the threads of English and Dutch cultural activity becoming wound together in intricately complicated ways."
The interested and careful reader will learn of the many cultural, artistic, architectural, horticultural, scientific, financial and above all, religious connections that made a tighter Anglo-Dutch relationship good policy as an act of counter-balance to a threatening, ever-expansionistic and very Roman Catholic France.
October 8, 2014
A strange book. Jardine starts by trying to get the reader to see how odd the "Glorious Revolution" was (Dutch soldiers in London, etc.). Then, she spends the rest of the book showing us why it wasn't so odd after all. She shows how much overlap there was between the two countries (horticulture, science, etc.) even during periods of war between them. What would have made the argument more convincing and more interesting is if she had compared this relationship to that of the British with other Europeans. Personally, I never found what she calls the "invasion" so odd probably because William's wife, after all, was the King's daughter. Also because so many English were happy to promote the "invasion" and then to join his side. I think she pushes the argument a bit and loses the central point of the Revolution in her discussions of gardening and all.
August 26, 2013
Chapters 1 and 12 were the good ones in this book.
Chapters 2-8 are meandering histories consisting of art history minutiae and plutocrat semi-biographies. I found the main historical events to be repetitive and had to struggle to find something interesting as I fast forwarded through these chapters. Personally, I thought these chapters were completely uninteresting and irrelevant to the theme of the book. I feel this subject and timeline were just too narrow to fill up a book, but should be saved for an unrelated phd thesis.
Chapters 9-12 covered horticulture, economics and banking, military, and science history, which showed lost potential and should have been the focus of the book. There was a feeling of these subjects being glossed over or shaped to fit some vague thesis.
Chapters 2-8 are meandering histories consisting of art history minutiae and plutocrat semi-biographies. I found the main historical events to be repetitive and had to struggle to find something interesting as I fast forwarded through these chapters. Personally, I thought these chapters were completely uninteresting and irrelevant to the theme of the book. I feel this subject and timeline were just too narrow to fill up a book, but should be saved for an unrelated phd thesis.
Chapters 9-12 covered horticulture, economics and banking, military, and science history, which showed lost potential and should have been the focus of the book. There was a feeling of these subjects being glossed over or shaped to fit some vague thesis.
May 1, 2015
I never read non-fiction, but when I was going through a period where I was very interested in the Glorious Revolution I picked this book up. And it was very, very good. Jardine has clearly done her research; the level of detail is astonishing and she definitely knows her stuff. The chapters on the politics and the relations between the two royal families were my favourites as I'm interested in those two areas, but the chapters on science and finance were a bit dull. Be warned: she does go off on a massive tangent when she talks about the Huygens family; they have numerous chapters devoted to them and I didn't find them all that interesting. She does hero-worship them a bit as well. Aside from those few gripes, it was a very good book and well worth reading.
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July 28, 2011I hate to say it - its a rather sad discovery, but I just lost interest entirely two-thirds thru. It started briskly enough with the political, military and religious aspects setting the scene, but then we just got bogged down in endless detail. I know that endless detail is the whole point of the book - the deep cultural relationship between the Dutch and English worlds. Its why I brought the book I acknowledge, but when the gaze hit the page I just couldn't be bothered. Its sad because I loved the other books by Lisa very much indeed. Her matter of fact yet subtly informal style was very satifying.
Sorry Lisa - no, no - its not you, its me.....l
Sorry Lisa - no, no - its not you, its me.....l
October 18, 2010
Pretty much like a three reel movie, a very interesting premise and introduction, a tedious middle section and a so so conclusion. Jardine's discussion of the Glorious Revolution really being an invasion led not so much by shock troops but by a PR onslaught, is absolutely terrific. Then the book turns to gardening. Yep, you read it correctly, gardening. By the time the author got to civilization shaping issues such as science, trade and (barely) banking, I couldn't stand the pain from the head ache any longer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2024
Luister, ik wilde dit echt graag goed vinden. I love Huygens, Charles II, Wren en Hooke. Zo erg dat mijn scriptie erover gaat. Als startpunt van onderzoek is het prima, maar de informatie die geleverd word is inmiddels best verouderd. Bovendien de vertaling soms ontzettend slordig. Eén keer word er Cristiaan Huygens neergezet ipv Christiaan. Van John Michael Montias maakt de vertaler John Michael Montas. De Dutch Gift noemen we in het Nederlands bij de Engelse naam. De Hollandse Gift (en één keer genoemd Nederlandse Gift) is geen ding.
Daarnaast houd ik niet van de opzet van het boek. De manier waarop Jardine haar informatie verspreid over het boek is rommelig. Het onderscheid tussen de Huygensjes is nauwelijks te volgen en de tijdlijn loopt binnen de hoofdstukken zelf gigantisch door elkaar wat het verwarrend maakt.
Ook mis ik een hoop soorten uitwisselingen. Kunst wordt nauwelijks echt genoemd. De Van de Veldens zijn niet eens genoemd, om maar iets te zeggen. En wat dacht je van Grinling Gibbons? Maar goed, daar hebben we dan andere boeken voor en daar is de afgelopen tijd veel onderzoek naar gedaan. En uitwisselingen in de architectuur? Die worden al helemaal links gelaten. Ook de uitwisseling in boeken worden niet behandeld.
Eigenlijk is dit boek vooral een verslag over de koninklijke families en Huygens. Punt.
Ondanks de kritiek die ik heb, zijn er zeker punten waarin ik mij vermaakte. De fittie tussen Hooke vs Newton, of Hooke vs Huygens zijn interessant, net als het bedpannencomplot. Ik heb heel wat notities gemaakt dus hopelijk heb ik in ieder geval iets zinnigs voor mijn onderzoek uit het boek gehaald.
Daarnaast houd ik niet van de opzet van het boek. De manier waarop Jardine haar informatie verspreid over het boek is rommelig. Het onderscheid tussen de Huygensjes is nauwelijks te volgen en de tijdlijn loopt binnen de hoofdstukken zelf gigantisch door elkaar wat het verwarrend maakt.
Ook mis ik een hoop soorten uitwisselingen. Kunst wordt nauwelijks echt genoemd. De Van de Veldens zijn niet eens genoemd, om maar iets te zeggen. En wat dacht je van Grinling Gibbons? Maar goed, daar hebben we dan andere boeken voor en daar is de afgelopen tijd veel onderzoek naar gedaan. En uitwisselingen in de architectuur? Die worden al helemaal links gelaten. Ook de uitwisseling in boeken worden niet behandeld.
Eigenlijk is dit boek vooral een verslag over de koninklijke families en Huygens. Punt.
Ondanks de kritiek die ik heb, zijn er zeker punten waarin ik mij vermaakte. De fittie tussen Hooke vs Newton, of Hooke vs Huygens zijn interessant, net als het bedpannencomplot. Ik heb heel wat notities gemaakt dus hopelijk heb ik in ieder geval iets zinnigs voor mijn onderzoek uit het boek gehaald.
September 23, 2021
The Glorious Revolution of Britain, in which the Dutch Stadhouder, William of Orange and his English wife, Mary, invaded Britain and ousted James II of England, Scotland and Ireland, was probably the last time The British Isle came under foreign occupation, a feat that could not be replicated by the likes of Philip of Spain, Napoleon and Hitler. Yet, despise this, British general public seemed to be accepting it with so much ease, and thus the story began.
As the book posited, the Dutch and English culture had long been intertwined with each other, looking at similarities between them, as nominally protestant domains and maritime power with colonies and trade posts around the world. Various aspects are discussed on how the Dutch cultures and practices came to influence the British, from things such as painting and gardening to academic discussions and the rivalries behind it. All were discussed from the points of view of various family members of De Huygenses (invariably named Christiaan or Constantijn) who served on the court of William.
Despite the title, which promised the ‘plundering’, that connotes to intense rivalry between the English and Dutch, the thing that draws me to this book, the author chose to paint this rivalry in the most subtle, preferring to point out the interchange between the two cultures, which unfortunately makes this book a quite boring read for me, for instead of having privateering on the seas, competition between trading companies, I was reading about how the English imitated the gardening trend in Dutch Seven Provinces. Dreadful.
As the book posited, the Dutch and English culture had long been intertwined with each other, looking at similarities between them, as nominally protestant domains and maritime power with colonies and trade posts around the world. Various aspects are discussed on how the Dutch cultures and practices came to influence the British, from things such as painting and gardening to academic discussions and the rivalries behind it. All were discussed from the points of view of various family members of De Huygenses (invariably named Christiaan or Constantijn) who served on the court of William.
Despite the title, which promised the ‘plundering’, that connotes to intense rivalry between the English and Dutch, the thing that draws me to this book, the author chose to paint this rivalry in the most subtle, preferring to point out the interchange between the two cultures, which unfortunately makes this book a quite boring read for me, for instead of having privateering on the seas, competition between trading companies, I was reading about how the English imitated the gardening trend in Dutch Seven Provinces. Dreadful.
November 16, 2020
After reading this book, I think the use of the word "plunder" in the subtitle is completely off course. Plunder has such a harsh connotation; if you look it up in a dictionary, you will find words like "steal" and "rob" and "loot" and "hostile" and "pillage." None of which really happened here. There was an invasion: of England, by the Netherlands, which resulted in the deposing of one king (James II) and the installation of another king (William III + Mary II). But no pillaging happened then. And England never invade the Netherlands in this book, so I don't under stand what England was plundering. Rather, what Jardine describes is a cross pollination - sometimes intentional, but mostly not - of two neighboring countries separated by the the North Sea (or Noordzee) sharing a royal family, some customs, a culture of business, and religious belief which over a period of a couple centuries created new scientific and artistic fruits. No plundering to be found here.
November 11, 2019
The whole point of this book is to investigate the developing similarity of taste between the British and the Dutch in the 17th century in cultural matters like art, architecture and science. I can't say that the problem lies with the execution: which was OK. It even begins with a halfway interesting look at the Dutch invasion of 1688. But from there it does a U-Turn into completly unrelated territory which eventually leads to, of all things, a comparison of the two cultures gardening styles. The fact is I found the subject matter incredibly boring, light-weight and, frankly, trivial. I can see how it would appeal to someone with a prior interest in the field, but I sadly am not one of them.
July 22, 2022
History seems full of easy statements that get treated as undeniable truths and are widely propagated as such in education and mass media. That's why we need historians like the late Lisa Jardine, who in this book enlightens us on some backgrounds of the Glorious Revolution and suggests a more complex interpretation. I particularly enjoyed the excellent writing, which makes reading enjoyable and comprehension almost effortless. The joy of reading is enhanced by the physical quality of the book, in particular the excellent paper. The only problem: several speculative statements that seem to draw more from the narrative than evidence.
May 18, 2025
A fine “revisionist” take on 17th century Dutch history emphasizing how much Dutch culture had infiltrated English elite society prior to the glorious revolution. I was much more interested in the first chapter on the Dutch military invasion of England and the last chapter on the competition between the two empires’ colonies. In the middle was a lot of detail about gardens, some art, music, and science. The focus on the de Huygens was understandable—they are an interesting family—but perhaps merely reveals that Dutch royalists got along well with English royalists, rather than the existence of widespread social connections. Great visual media inserted in the text.
May 24, 2023
Not quite the book I thought it would be about so 3 stars based on my interest level not on the competency of the author's output. A thorough account of the flow of culture and ideas between the Dutch and English at a very exciting time of discovery and development in both their history, however I was hoping for more insight into how the Dutch prosperity and international influence declined whilst the fortune of the English took off. C'est la vie.
March 6, 2018
It is fashionable to say that much of what we think of as English culture actually from the Netherlands in the 17th century. That may be true, but if so, it will take more than this book to convince me. Disappointing.
January 6, 2022
This book, and much of it's content, is known to me; I have read older books on this topic, and this one seems to be a perenial favourite. This hasn't been in decades however, and it is nice to have a bit of a refresher.
July 30, 2022
An interesting and scholarly perspective. I enjoyed it very much.
December 11, 2022
Not super exciting. The jacket of the book is misleading. Too detailed and transfixed on a couple of historical episodes to the point of tedious and boring read. Not a word about art. Just two major subjects are covered: Dutch invasion into England and Dutch gardens. It is written in a non-smooth torturous way.
April 7, 2020
Wonderful, brilliantly researched, original history of the 17th century love-hate relationship of England and the Dutch United Provinces that elucidates many facets of their economic, political, horticultural, scholarly, scientific and legal cooperation. Told with extensive reference to the brilliant Huygens family that spanned the Stuart and Orange monarchies and informed and guided the House of Orange as it prevailed in London, Ms. Jardine's obvious passion for her multifarious subjects and her felicity as an author is a delight to read, and a treasure trove for further reading and research. I read much of it with Handel's timely court music coloring the air in my study. Worth more as an advanced sampling of topics than many college courses I have labored through. The world is richer for this book.
June 3, 2016
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was a gap in my knowledge before I read Going Dutch. That gap has now been largely, but not totally, filled.
The scale of William of Orange's invasion of England, and the extent to which it was his own initaitive, were revelations to me. I had been under the illusion that William had been begged and cajoled by anti-Catholic elements in England to undertake the invasion, but Lisa Jardine shows it was very much his own project. She lays out how the unexpected birth of a healthy son to England's James II and his wife, Mary of Modena - and the possibility of a Catholic dynasty in England - totally changed the strategic environment in northern Europe. A possible French-English Catholic alliance could not be allowed to eventuate, so William invaded England.
But why was the invasion so successful? Jardine spends most of the book answering this question and finds the answer in the close collaboration and cross-fertilisation that had been going on between the Dutch and the English throughout the 17th century.
Despite several Dutch-English wars over the two nations' colonies, there was huge collaboration in the fields of trade, science, art, music and gardens (yes, this was important) throughout the century. The great Dutch courtier Constantijn Huygens was a central figure in this cross-fertilisation.
Thus, when the invasion force landed in 1688, it met little resistance and William was soon the legitimate King of England. The highly successful Dutch banking system was implemented soon after, with the creation of the Bank of England.
When England overhauled the Dutch United Provinces as a power in the 18th century, the Dutch traits it gained in the 17th century greatly helped it do so, Jardine argues.
This is a convicingly argued book and well illustrated with some of the great art the Dutch produced in the 17th century. A bit more on how Dutch-ness was woven into England during William and Mary's rule, beyond the creation of the Bank of England, would have further strengthened the book.
I wanted a bit more on the 1688 to 1702 period but otherwise, a great read.
The scale of William of Orange's invasion of England, and the extent to which it was his own initaitive, were revelations to me. I had been under the illusion that William had been begged and cajoled by anti-Catholic elements in England to undertake the invasion, but Lisa Jardine shows it was very much his own project. She lays out how the unexpected birth of a healthy son to England's James II and his wife, Mary of Modena - and the possibility of a Catholic dynasty in England - totally changed the strategic environment in northern Europe. A possible French-English Catholic alliance could not be allowed to eventuate, so William invaded England.
But why was the invasion so successful? Jardine spends most of the book answering this question and finds the answer in the close collaboration and cross-fertilisation that had been going on between the Dutch and the English throughout the 17th century.
Despite several Dutch-English wars over the two nations' colonies, there was huge collaboration in the fields of trade, science, art, music and gardens (yes, this was important) throughout the century. The great Dutch courtier Constantijn Huygens was a central figure in this cross-fertilisation.
Thus, when the invasion force landed in 1688, it met little resistance and William was soon the legitimate King of England. The highly successful Dutch banking system was implemented soon after, with the creation of the Bank of England.
When England overhauled the Dutch United Provinces as a power in the 18th century, the Dutch traits it gained in the 17th century greatly helped it do so, Jardine argues.
This is a convicingly argued book and well illustrated with some of the great art the Dutch produced in the 17th century. A bit more on how Dutch-ness was woven into England during William and Mary's rule, beyond the creation of the Bank of England, would have further strengthened the book.
I wanted a bit more on the 1688 to 1702 period but otherwise, a great read.
February 21, 2012
I had high expectations of this book. The more as I know barely anything about Dutch history (apart from that learned at school) and hoped to lear a lot from this book about a very interesting period.
Well, I didn't. Not only was the book rather 'messy' in its red-line, the historical background was very vague and it wasn't all that interesting to me unfortunately. The thing which put me off most about it however was the constant appearance of Huyghens. Had I wanted to read a whole book about him/them I would have bought a biography.
Well, I didn't. Not only was the book rather 'messy' in its red-line, the historical background was very vague and it wasn't all that interesting to me unfortunately. The thing which put me off most about it however was the constant appearance of Huyghens. Had I wanted to read a whole book about him/them I would have bought a biography.
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