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*A SCOTSMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR* Stranded at Schiphol airport,
Ben Coates called up a friendly Dutch girl he'd met some months
earlier. He stayed for dinner. Actually, he stayed for good. In the
first book to consider the hidden heart and history of the
Netherlands from a modern perspective, the author explores the
length and breadth of his adopted homeland and discovers why one of
the world's smallest countries is also so significant and so
fascinating. It is a self-made country, the Dutch national
character shaped by the ongoing battle to keep the water out from
the love of dairy and beer to the attitude to nature and the famous
tolerance. Ben Coates investigates what makes the Dutch the Dutch,
why the Netherlands is much more than Holland and why the colour
orange is so important. Along the way he reveals why they are the
world's tallest people and have the best carnival outside Brazil.
He learns why Amsterdam's brothels are going out of business, who
really killed Anne Frank, and how the Dutch manage to be richer
than almost everyone else despite working far less. He also
discovers a country which is changing fast, with the Dutch now
questioning many of the liberal policies which made their nation
famous. A personal portrait of a fascinating people, a sideways
history and an entertaining travelogue, Why the Dutch are Different
is the story of an Englishman who went Dutch. And loved it.
When the English Civil War broke out, London's economy was diverse
and dynamic, closely connected through commercial networks with the
rest of England and with Europe, Asia and North America. As such it
was uniquely vulnerable to hostile acts by supporters of the king,
both those at large in the country and those within the capital.
Yet despite numerous difficulties, the capital remained the
economic powerhouse of the nation and was arguably the single most
important element in Parliament's eventual victory. For London's
wealth enabled Parliament to take up arms in 1642 and sustained it
through the difficult first year and a half of the war, without
which Parliament's ultimate victory would not have been possible.
In this book the various sectors of London's economy are examined
and compared, as the war progressed. It also looks closely at the
impact of war on the major pillars of the London economy, namely
London's role in external and internal trade, and manufacturing in
London. The impact of the increasing burden of taxation on the
capital is another key area that is studied and which yields
surprising conclusions. The Civil War caused a major economic
crisis in the capital, not only because of the interrelationship
between its economy and that of the rest of England, but also
because of its function as the hub of the social and economic
networks of the kingdom and of the rest of the world. The crisis
was managed, however, and one of the strengths of this study is its
revelation of the means by which the city's government sought to
understand and ameliorate the unique economic circumstances which
afflicted it.
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD*
The Rhine is one of the world's greatest rivers. Once forming the
outer frontier of the Roman Empire, it flows 800 miles from the
social democratic playground of the Netherlands, through the
industrial and political powerhouses of Germany and France, to the
wealthy mountain fortresses of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. For
five years, Ben Coates lived alongside a major channel of the river
in Rotterdam, crossing it daily, swimming and sailing in its
tributaries. In The Rhine, he sets out by bicycle from the
Netherlands where it enters the North Sea, following it through
Germany, France and Liechtenstein, to its source in the icy Alps.
He explores the impact that the Rhine has had on European culture
and history and finds out how influences have flowed along and
across the river, shaping the people who live alongside it.
Blending travelogue and offbeat history, The Rhine tells the
fascinating story of how a great river helped shape a continent.
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