Product Description

In 1630s' Holland thousands of people, from the wealthiest merchants to the lowest street traders, were caught up in a frenzy of buying and selling. The object of the speculation was not oil or gold, but the tulip, a delicate and exotic bloom that had just arrived from the east. Over three years, rare tulip bulbs changed hands for sums that would have bought a house in Amsterdam: a single bulb could sell for more than 300,000 at today's prices. Fortunes were made overnight, but then lost when, within a year, the market collapsed. Mike Dash recreates this bizarre episode in European history, separating myth from reality. He traces the hysterical boom and devastating bust, bringing to life a colourful cast of characters, and beautifully evoking Holland's Golden Age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #238149 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
Who would have thought that the humble tulip, so readily available these days in the garden centres and supermarkets, once almost caused war, battles royal between collectors and an orgy of buying and selling that was greater than that ever created on Wall Street by oil or gold. Individual bulbs were being sold for amounts 10 times the sum an ordinary family would live on for a year causing eyebrows to rise in neighbouring countries who watched with disbelief as this normally staid and reserved country descended into farce over a single flower. This was not about horticulture but money. Wealth, if you played your cards right, undreamt of, taking place in 17th century Holland in the years 1633-1637. Now referred back to as the great Dutch tulip mania, it almost mirrors the boom and bust years of the 1980s when everyone was scrambling to buy shares and better themselves before it all fizzled out at the end of the decade with multi bankruptcies and repossessions. Mike Dash takes the reader on a fascinating history of this humble plant, from its origins in the East where it caused a different kind of frenzy in religion being regarded as a "holy" flower to the madcap years of trading in the West. From the blooms seen in the acclaimed Dutch botanical paintings to the more recognisable, these small bulbs caused a stir in the financial world still quoted today in student texts. More a novel of intrigue and adventure than a horticultural tale, this is a must for anyone with a green streak and an ounce of recklessness in them. - Lucy Watson

About the Author
Mike Dash read history at Cambridge and received his PhD from the University of London. Having worked for the Fortean Times and The Ministry of Sound, he is now setting up his own company.

Customer Reviews

One of the very best of the new popular history books
When it comes to trends in publishing, popular history is the new black. Since the unexpected success of Longitude we've been deluged with small format narrative histories of colourful people and events. Some were good, some bad - but Tulipomania is one of the very best. The subject matter is a gift, to begin with, but the author tells the story beautifully. This book is lively, funny, engaging and - in passing - it teaches you a lot more about the history of the Dutch Golden Age than you probably realise. The chapters set in the Ottoman empire are if anything even more evocative, but, throughout, there's no shortage of colour and anecdote and even the index is amusing. Tulipomania is a sure-fire bet for anyone who likes history and loves a good story, well-told.

An engaging history of the tulip and the tulip craze in 1637
Definitely a book written for those who enjoy history and gardening, Mike Dash does a great job of engaging the reader in the motives behind the madness surrounding the tulip. The text is somewhat history heavy in the beginning, but Dash does paint a very vivid picture of the Netherlands during the 17th century. I enjoyed the combination of botany, economics and social history that Dash employed to describe this very interesting flower.

Makes you feel as though you were there
What a wonderful, involving book! Beautifully well-written and expertly researched, Tulipomania really does give you the impression you are a fly on the wall in the sweaty, smoke-stained taverns of Holland where tulip bulbs were dealt. The work of a first-rate historian with a real gift for story-telling, this book reveals the human stories behind the famous mania. Characters such as Wouter Winkel, an Alkmaar innkeeper who became one of the richest men in his town by growing tulips, only to die at the height of the mania leaving seven orphan children, will live long in your memory. And Tulipomania doesn't just deal with the Dutch side of the story either. There are two lyrical chapters on the story of the flower in Turkey which feature some of the finest writing in the book, as well. A perfect Christmas present, for others or even yourself.