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)
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.
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