A Cape of Asia

Reviews / Votes

This remarhable book is testament to the breadth and creativity of one of the few historians in the world who writes with authority both on European history and also on the history of imperialism and the wider world.Professor Wesseling is at home discussing numerous topics,from French Africa to the Netherlands East Indies aand the domestic economies,politics and culture of the Netherlands and other European nations as they developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.It is difficult to envisage a book which is more valuable in providing a background to the present travails of our interdependent and globalized world.[-][-]Sir Christopher Bayly,Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History and President of Saint Catherine's College,Cambridge[-][-]Henk Wesseling strides through history in seven-league boots,covering major themes that link the present to the past.Like his great predecessor at the Leiden chair of General History,Johan Huizinga,he combines vast knowledge with humanistic sympathy,and he writes in a way that brings history to life and makes it relevant to a broad range of readers.Elegantly composed and written Wesseling's essays are a pleasure to read."[-][-]Robert Darnton,Carl H.Pforzheimer University Professor and University Librarian,Harvard University[-][-]