Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory

Author - Lisa Jardine ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Harper was reviewed on 10-Dec-2008.

Search ISBN:0060774088 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory Reference Book. Classifications : General England Europe History Subjects Books General AAS England Europe History Subjects Books General Europe History Subjects Books General AAS Europe History Subjects Books General World History Su . Click the following link to view the cover of Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory.

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1) Hardcover Book Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory by Harper. Going Dutch is that rare thing: a work of great scholarship written in a manner that is always engaging to the non-specialists among its readers. Add to this the additional treat of the many magnificient illustrations, and Going Dutch is a work to be throughly enjoyed and treasured.

The book begins with a somewhat revisionist history of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which Lisa Jardine explains was actually a Dutch invasion of England, undertaken out of fear of a possible Anglo-French alliance which would threaten Holland´s safety and encouraged by Protestants in England and on the Continent who feared the Catholic King James II. The rest of the book details the many exchanges between the Dutch United Provinces and England during the seventeenth century. Sometimes these exchanges were political in nature, encouraged by the House of Stuart in England and the House of Orange in Holland and featuring several royal marriages. At other times the exchanges were economic and/or cultural in nature. Jardine provides much fascinating information on such diverse topics as the flow of artworks between Holland and England; the spread of Dutch gardening and horticultural practices to England; and the many economic links across the North or Narrow Sea between the two nations. Throughout her work Jardine makes it clear that England benefited from these exchanges much more than did Holland, so that by the end of the seventeenth century Holland was in decline while England was poised on the brink of world power. Jardine has a fine ability to describe key personalities in such a way that her readers feel they have come to know such people as Sir Constantijn Huygens and Robert Hooke quite well. An additional treat are the many fine illustrations scatttered throughout the book, including reproductions of most of the artworks discussed in the text.

Going Dutch will be an invaluable reference for historians and for anyone interested in a good solid read about a fascinating timeperiod in world history.¤

2) Hardcover Book Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory by Harper. This is an awkwardly written and deceptively sub-titled book whose cover promises much more that the book delivers.

The book is really about the Dutch Huygens family, their experiences and observations, especially in contacts and cultural exchanges between England and the Netherlands. But some editor or sales promoter tried to jazz up the product with a Vermeer painting on the cover, a misleading subtitle about England "plundering" Holland´s glory. and lots of reproductions of Dutch art throughout the book. The text of the book makes it clear that there was no plundering at all, only sharing across the narrow sea, which is much less exciting.

The writing is awkward and annoying. Overly long sentences and extended clauses make for rough going within paragraphs while the transitions between paragraphs are often strained as an attempt is made to organize the book by cultural topics (paintings, music, gardens, etc.) rather than chronologically and by turning (and returning) to various members of the Huygens family as the principal observers and reporters about each.

A very disappointing book.



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3) Hardcover Book Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory by Harper. I enjoyed the first 100 pages of this book, as it gave a nice introduction for me as a general reader to the context of the "Glorious Revolution". But once Jardine began to focus on the Huygens family, who were powerful servants of the House of Orange, but really rather dull people, it became unbearable to read.

Her description of the settlement of New Netherland and specifically New Amsterdam (New York City) was better, but disconcerting when she referred to Peter Minuit, the original leader of the Dutch colonists as "Paul Minuit". A few pages earlier she discussed John Winthrop, Jr., the then governor of Connecticut, and referred to him as the son of John Winthrop senior "the founder of ... Jamestown", which seems a rather glaring error, since Winthrop senior was actually a founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, not Jamestown. (I have just read Sarah Vowell´s entertaining book of essays The Wordy Shipmates and been fascinated by John Winthrop senior´s remarkable skill in leading the quarreling English.)

These kinds of obvious errors should have been caught by the American editor of the book, if not the British one. It made me wonder how accurate Jardine is in her argument about the plundering of the Dutch by the English.¤

4) Hardcover Book Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory by Harper. Lisa Jardine convincingly demonstrates in "Going Dutch" that before the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 C.E., England and the United Provinces (today The Netherlands) were merging culturally, intellectually, dynastically, and politically. Jardine explores in detail fields such as scientific activities, financial institutions, paintings, and gardening to bring to life the cross-pollination that happened on both sides of the Narrow Sea which separates England from The Netherlands. However, the word "plundered" that Jardine uses in the subtitle of her book is perhaps a nice sound bite, but is in reality misleading to uninformed readers.

The above-mentioned fusion between both nations helped make the invasion of William Henry and Mary of the House of Orange and their army a relatively smooth power transition to the throne of England and Scotland. The regime of Catholic James II of the House of Stuart could count only on limited, domestic support to defend the throne of England and Scotland against the Dutch invaders. That invasion resulted in the progressive fading of the United Provinces as a world power and the rise of the British Isles as a superpower.

Jardine is at her weakest when she apparently makes the assumption that her audience is quite familiar with the diverse Anglo-Dutch Wars fought over the control of the seas and trade routes. Jardine could have summarized these successive conflicts in a separate chapter without distracting her audience from her core message.

As a side note, "Going Dutch" stands out by the quality of the book layout and its illustrations. Colored reproductions of paintings, faïence, medals, sculptures, glassware, silverware, etc. bring to life the art scene of the 17th century C.E in all its glory. Many publishers could emulate the example that HarperCollins Publishers sets in "Going Dutch" by systematically starting to use colored reproductions instead of black and white ones, wherever available. Many readers will probably be happy to trade off a slightly higher cover price for a more eye-pleasing reading experience.
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5) Hardcover Book Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory by Harper. Lisa Jardine´s "Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland´s Glory" is a quite extraordinary work. The subtitle is perhaps an attempt to generate a little controversy, but in reality Jardine´s picture of 17th Century Anglo-Dutch relations is one of cross-fertilization in many areas (political, financial, scientific, artistic, musical, even hortocultural), to the point where the discussion of either England or the Netherlands independent of the other is somewhat meaningless. Jardine describes the Glorious Revolution of 1688 as a direct (and successful) military invasion by William of Orange, although she also says: "Because by 1688 England and Holland were already so closely intertwined, culturally, intellectually, dynastically and politically, that the invasion was more like a merger. I could wish that the author had devoted a little more space devoted to an outline of events (for example, the course of the various Anglo-Dutch Wars), but the study is fascinating anyway. Looming large in the account is the Huygens family. Although Christian, the scientist, is best remembered today, his elder brother and father, both named Constantijn, had larger roles to play at the time, both being secretaries to the Dutch Stadholders and heavily involved in diplomacy and politics and in the currents of art and music (and even horticulture). Artists such as Rubens, scientists like Robert Hooke, and other persons of note such as Christopher Wren also peolple Jardine´s pages.

The book is unusually handsome, with a profusion of colored reproductions of paintings, portraits of personalities discussed in the text as well as displaying the richness of Dutch and Flemish art of the time.¤

6) Hardcover Book Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory by Harper.

On November 5, 1688, William of Orange, Protestant ruler of the Dutch Republic, landed at Torbay in Devon with a force of twenty thousand men. The Glorious Revolution that followed forced James II to abdicate, and William and his wife, Mary, were jointly crowned king and queen on April 11, 1689. How was it that this almost bloodless coup took place with such apparent ease yet was not recognized as the full-blooded invasion and conquest it undoubtedly was?

In this wide-ranging book, Lisa Jardine assembles new research in political and social history, together with the histories of art, music, gardening, and science, to show how Dutch tolerance, resourcefulness, and commercial acumen had effectively conquered Britain long before William and his English wife arrived in London. Going Dutch is the remarkable story of the relationship between two of Europe´s most important colonial powers at the dawn of the modern age.

Throughout the seventeenth century, Holland and England were engaged in an energetic commercial and cultural exchange that survived three Anglo-Dutch wars. Dutch influence also permanently reshaped England´s cultural landscape. Whether through scientific discoveries, the design of royal palaces and gardens, or the introduction of works by the greatest painters of the age—Rubens, Rembrandt, and Van Dyck among them—the England we know today owes an extraordinary amount to its fierce competitor across the "narrow sea."

Going Dutch demonstrates how individuals, such as Christopher Wren, Isaac Newton, and successive generations of the remarkable Huygens family, who were usually represented as isolated geniuses working in the enclosed environment of their native country in fact developed their ideas within a context of the easy Anglo-Dutch relations that laid the vital groundwork for the European Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution.

Above all, Lisa Jardine tests the traditional view that the rise of England as a world power took place at the expense of the Dutch. She finds that it was a "handing off" of the baton of cultural and intellectual supremacy to a Britain expanding in international power and influence. Going Dutch not only challenges conventional interpretations of England´s role in Enlightenment-era Europe but raises questions about the position in which post-empire Britain finds itself today.

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 7-Jan-2009, 00607740889780060774080, 880-900-561-221-271-941-8

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