A History of the Low Countries

by Paul Arblaster

This is the first full historical survey of the Benelux area (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) to be written in English. Paul Arblaster describes the whole sweep of the history of the Low Countries, from Roman frontier provinces, through medieval principalities, to the establishment of the three constitutional monarchies of the present day. This readable overview highlights the international importance of the social, economic , spiritual, and cultural movements that have marked the region.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Belgium, European History, World History

298 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Kdm · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Flemish Belgian who knows his history, I was not able to find a single mistake in this book. The author knows when to use what terms: Belgic, Batavian, Frisian, Frank, Fleming, Brabantian, Walloon, Hollander, Zeelander, Dutch, Belgian, Luxembourger, ...

I did not catch him using the wrong term at the wrong time. He especially surprised me when he said that modern Flanders is compromised of old Flanders, parts of Brabant and parts of Liège. Yes Liège, not Limburg which was a tiny affair mostly found in the modern province of Liège (where the town of Limbourg is found). But the prince-bishopdom of Liège had entirely different borders stretching all the way into what is now Flanders. It's not a mistake, even though at first I had to recheck some maps.

This is the best neutral view of Belgian and Low Countries history I have ever read.

[Ajk · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's pretty tricky to write 2,000 years of history in 241 pages, I admit. But the historiography is pretty shoddy here, and the "story of the Low Countries" is usually just the stories of a few famous dudes. The prose is also pretty dry and outside of a few interesting characters, everything bled together a bit too much.

As difficult as it is to sum up everything so quickly, it's even more difficult to do so without having a sort of full-surrounding story to tell about the Netherlands except that it's had some interesting inhabitants from time to time. Arblaster never really tells us why something or someone is important, just that it happened. Which is too bad, because the Low Countries are very interesting and do have stories to tell. The presentation here just made it very difficult to understand what that story could possible be.

It's overall just a weak presentation of history. One that emphasizes names and dates over stories. It's the sort of thing that infuriates young people wanting to know history and is just kind of a bummer of a presentation for a source that could use a lot more, even in only 241 pages.

[Mesoscope · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was obviously written by a non-native speaker of English. While the author's use of language is not technically incorrect, his syntax is consistently non-idiomatic and I find it extremely difficult to read. Lots of passive constructions and relative clauses. Abandoned.

Update: I switched to "History of the Low Countries" by J. C. H Blom and E. Lamberts and am finding it far more readable - I would certainly recommend it as an alternative.

Update: I now wonder if the author is employing what the Germans would call Nominalstil. It is often preferred in German for academic or scientific texts, but directly contradicts every basic principle of good style in English.

[Rob Keenan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I needed the facts to get a grounding in Dutch history but the analysis was miserable. Author at points extolled the benefits of imperialism and pondered at the curiosity of Dutch industrialists lowering wages rather than maintaining equipment. Not for the left of heart.

[Sander · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the study book for the course "History of the Low Countries" at my university, and I was disappointed by the book and thus the choice. There's no fluendo in the book, elaborating on certain matters always ends abruptly, and the author apparently tried to put as much as possible in the book - which made it worse. Every fact is there, so two stars for that, but no more.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is impossible to paint any group of people with a single brush. Any history contains events both laudatory and shameful. Arblaster does a good job of representing this moral heterogeneity in his concise overview of the Benelux, from early archaeological data to the 21st century.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

And I'm not just saying this because I know the author!

Very readable and Dr. Arblaster is a great storyteller.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid introductory work

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's very difficult to write a short history of multiple countries and make it interesting. Paul Arblaster actually described the difficulty he had in determinng what to present when covering the history of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. I thought the book was interesting and covered the right areas. It's a quick read but highlighted most of the points. I really liked reading about the middle ages and the height of Brugge and Antwerp (a city I lived in for 9 months). If you are traveling to these countries or are in anyway interested in western european history this is a good read.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to learn about these countries because my ancestors come from various parts of them. It has taken a while to slog through this book. It was quite dry, and wasn’t as informative as I had hoped. It left me wanting to find a better book. One of the reviews recommended one... I’ll be looking for it.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Translation to English is slightly off....can't put my finger on it. This book reads more like a text book and is easy to get bogged down. Very comprehensive but I will use more as a reference book than a book to enjoy/learn.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decided to read up on the place I've chosen to live in so I googled "history of Belgium" and this came up. Not good, inelegant syntax, too telegraphic, too dense, provides names rather than insight, has you looking up things often.

[Pieter Baert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good though a little generalistic for my taste.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intensely complicated history made palatable and, at times, entertaining.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to imagine this being done in the same short space without being as dry, but still

[Libyrinths · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done for a book of this type -- that is, a whirlwind through several thousand years of the history of a country or region in about 250 pages. Some parts are better as reference, but others were more interesting. If you need a nice chronological outline of the history of the Benelux area, this is probably your best choice.

[Fiona Shacklehack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exhaustive but exhausting!

[William Gerke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually didn't finish this. Went to Belgium and decided not to finish it after the trip. A solid, readable book. Very dense. But one of the few true histories of the Low Countries.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What it says on the tin.

[Mary Brinkman]

Still in chapter 1, and already it's very interesting...!

[B Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

dense and academic

[Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A textbook, but I liked it.