A History of the Netherlands

Reviews / Votes

This volume fills an important gap: to the best of this reviewer's knowledge, there is no recent history, in English, of the Netherlands. However, this volume does not include a brief summary of the pre-1500 period. Most of the book is political and economic history, discussing in detail the rise of the Dutch Republic and its important role in world affairs. Only one chapter describes arts and science during this period. In the 18th century, the republic was overshadowed by Britain and France and became part of Napoleon's empire. The Netherlands regained independence in 1813 and for 15 years was united with Belgium. The 19th century saw the rise of the parliamentary state, the party system, and the 'pillarization' of society, i.e., the evolution of different social categories. However, society never made it very clear who belonged to which 'pillar.' Wielenga (Dutch studies, Westphalian Wilhelms-Univ., Munster, Germany) also discusses the colonial empire and the neutral foreign policy and emphasizes that many changes did not occur, as alleged, without much strife. There are good, brief chapters on the German occupation and the postwar period. The book is based on very recent scholarship and has an excellent bibliography. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. -- G. D. Homan, Illinois State University, ret., USA * CHOICE * Wielenga offers an effective narrative, one that flows well and is consistently interesting ... An impressive work on an interesting topic. * Journal of European Studies * In his clearly structured History of the Netherlands, Wielenga can be credited to have eliminated several popular cliches. -- Der Tagesspiegel, Germany The emergence of the Netherlands is a complicated story, a story Wielenga recounts in this impressive overview with intensity and academic precision... -- Neue Ruhr Zeitung, Germany National history is more than national history alone. In his description of a modest four and a half centuries of the Netherlands, Friso Wielenga also does not shy away from the international perspective. A refreshing approach in a time of navel-gazing. -- Trouw, The Netherlands Not since the publication of Kossmann's History of the Low Countries in the 1970s has there been such an in-depth treatment of the political and socio-economic history of the Netherlands in English. This new book, written in Wielenga's own inimitable style, makes explicit reference to modern Dutch scholarship and challenges the traditional and now discredited stereotype of a country born out of a unified revolt against Spanish tyranny and epitomised by a continuous, gradual and largely peaceful progress towards an apparently stable and consensual polity in the twentieth century. In six carefully structured chapters the author provides us with an innovative and more carefully informed version of how the Netherlands came to be the country that it now is, synthesising the myriad of domestic and international forces that framed the country's history from the sixteenth century to the present day. * Bob Moore, Professor of Twentieth Century European History, University of Sheffield, UK * In this fascinating account of five centuries of Dutch history, Friso Wielenga questions the alleged peacefulness of the Netherlands' historical development since the days of the Revolt, counter-balancing the early-modern bias often found in other Anglophone publications on the subject. Comprehensive, academically rigorous but also entertaining and eminently readable, I expect it to appeal to both academic audiences and a wider historically interested public alike. * Ulrich Tiedau, University College London, UK * Wielenga's History of the Netherlands is a marvelously concise and penetrating overview of the whole of Dutch history from the Revolt against Spain down to today. It will prove a real asset to readers as there is nothing remotely of the sort available in English and it never relies on older views and literature but systematically selects what is most pertinent from the most up-to-date research and authoritative recent works. * Jonathan Israel, Institute for Advanced Study, USA *