Product Description

A fascinating 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. Working backwards from the bloodless revolution that set William and Mary of Orange on the English throne in 1688, this bold and ambitious work redefines the history of cultural and commercial interconnection between two of the world's most powerful trading empires at a time of great intellectual and geographical discovery. Weaving together the lives of the great thinkers of the time, Jardine demonstrates how individuals such as Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Christiaan Huygens and Margaret Cavendish, usually depicted as instances of isolated genius, in fact evolved within a context of easy Anglo-Dutch exchange that laid the groundwork for the European Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution.This fascinating history of big ideas and remarkable individuals denounces the traditional view that the rise of England as a world power took place at the expense of the Dutch, asserting instead that what is usually interpreted as the decline of the Dutch trading empire was in fact a 'passing on' of the baton to an England expanding in power and influence. In so doing, Jardine not only challenges traditional interpretations of the role of the British Empire in Enlightenment Europe, but also raises probing questions about the position in which post-Empire Britain finds itself today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21956 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Review
Praise for 'The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man Who Measured London': 'Thoughtful, crisp and finely illustrated, this fascinating, impeccably researched account should help bring Hooke into the light again.' Guardian 'Not nearly as well known today as his close friend Wren or his bitter enemy Newton, Hooke did as much as either of them to define the intellectual character of his age.' Sunday Times 'A meticulously researched, engrossing book!Hooke defined the age -- fierce, obsessive and, above all, curious.' Observer 'If he was proud and prickly, he had a lot to be proud and prickly about.' Evening Standard

An exploration of the thriving 17th-century cultural exchange between Holland and England.England doesn't bear too many traces of its once-close relationship with the Dutch, writes Jardine (Renaissance Studies/Queen Mary, Univ. of London; The Awful End of Prince William the Silent, 2007, etc.), who attempts to set the record straight with this examination of Anglo-Dutch relations. She begins by outlining the audacious Dutch invasion of 1688, sanitized by history as a "Glorious Revolution" whose (British) protagonists "invited" William of Orange to rule England with his wife Mary, daughter of England's unpopular James II. Jardine writes in awestruck tones of William's impeccable organization in steam-rollering the English and notes how widely accepted he was by people whose country was occupied by his troops. Dutch culture had been seeping into English society for quite some time, she points out: There were links between the Dutch and English royal families; both countries were Protestant; scientists and artists from both cultures had close ties. At the center of her retelling stands Constantijn Huygens, an advisor to the House of Orange whose exquisite taste in art and culture helped him act as a sort of 17th-century PR man for the Dutch. Also crucial is the author's investigation of the posthumous rewriting of history that occurred in the aftermath of William's invasion. Jardine meticulously studies the exchange of ideas between England and Holland, displaying an impressive ability to look at the bigger picture and tie together seemingly disparate strands of culture: art, commerce, even gardening. In her depiction, England had already borrowed huge swaths of Dutch culture, paving the way for William's rule. Illustrations and photographs that reveal the prevailing Dutch aesthetic of the time add weight to the author's words, and she leaves no stone unturned as she documents just how many significant figures from Holland held sway over English culture.Absorbing, enjoyable reading. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
Lisa Jardine CBE is Director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters, and Centenary Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge and Jesus College, Cambridge. She writes and reviews for all the major UK national newspapers and magazines and for the 'Washington Post', and has presented and appears regularly on arts, history and current affairs programmes for TV and radio. She is a regular writer and presenter of 'A Point of View', on BBC Radio 4. She judged many important literary prizes including the 2000 Orwell Prize and the 2002 Man Booker Prize. She is the author of a number of best-selling general books, including 'Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance', 'Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution', and biographies of Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. Lisa Jardine is married to the architect John Hare and has three children.

Customer Reviews

Going Dutch
I really loved Lisa Jardine's 'Going Dutch'. Compelling, thought-provoking and meticulously researched, this is a fascinating study of a larger culture that connected England and Holland in the seventeenth century. Beautifully written and beautifully illustrated, I was completely captivated.

Misleading and disappointing.
Do not buy this book because of its title or its dust cover picture. These appear to have been designed to sell the book, and are misleading.
"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 instead that it was a handing on of the baton of cultural and intellectual supremacy to Briton....." These words from inside the dust cover contradict the book's title. England did not rob Holland of its glory. And Lisa stole the "Going Dutch" title from other earlier books.

The book is a series of essays - on the Dutch invasion of 1688, and much correspondance is used to illustrate cultural exchanges in art, horticulture, and science. There are lots of pictures, a good bibliography, in nice print, on good quality paper.

Watch out for garbled sentances, some contradictory, and there is little to link people and events in one essay with where they are mentioned in another.It seems as though this book was written in a hurry and as such it does not do justice either to its important topics or its distinguished author.

It is disappointing and irritating that such a well known author with access to broad-based research facilities fails to produce a book worthy of her resources or of her talents. Briton is well known for its histories. This book does not add to that reputation.