The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age [Audio Cassette]

Simon Schama (Author), Nadia May (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

This is the book that made Simon Schama's reputation when first published in 1987. A historical masterpiece, it is an epic account of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age of Rembrandt and van Diemen. In this brilliant work that moves far beyond the conventions of social or cultural history, Simon Schama investigates the astonishing case of a people's self-invention. He shows how, in the 17th-century, a modest assortment of farming, fishing and shipping communities, without a shared language, religion or government, transformed themselves into a formidable world empire -- the Dutch republic.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Simon Schama writes with grace and wit, and his enthusiasms are contagious.' Anita Brookner 'Schama is one of the few historians writing today who can recreate the mentalite of another culture.' Jonathan Miller 'One reads it all with mounting enjoyment and at the end one's sense of Dutch civilisation in the Golden Age of Rembrandt and van Diemen is not just salted and enriched -- but remade.' Robert Hughes 'This is history on the grand scale, and like all generously conceived historical works leaves us reflecting about the present as well as the past.' John Gross, New York Times 'Seldom has a people opened its doors so wide. A performance on the epic scale.' Independent --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Simon Schama is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University. He is the author of 'Patriots and Liberators', which won the Wolfson Prize for History, 'The Embarrassment of Riches', 'Citizens' which won the 1990 NCR book award for non-fiction, 'Dead Certainties', 'Landscape and Memory' which won the W H Smith Literary Award in 1995, and 'Rembrandt's Eyes' (1999). He is also the author of the monumental 'History of Britain' published in three volumes. He was art critic of the 'New Yorker' from 1995 to 1998 and was made CBE in the 2001 New Year's Honours list. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078610936X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786109364
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Books on Cassette > History > Europe
  • #16 in Books > Books on Cassette > History > General

More About the Author

Simon Schama is a professor of art history and history at Columbia University, and is the author of numerous award-winning books; his most recent history, Rough Crossings, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. He is a cultural essayist for the New Yorker and has written and presented more than thirty documentaries for the BBC, PBS, and the History Channel, including The Power of Art, which won the 2007 International Emmy for Best Arts Programming.