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The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In high summer, Amsterdam smells of frying oil, shag tobacco and unwashed beer glasses..." (more)
Key Phrases: patriotic scripture, drowning cell, dagelijks brood, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Jan Steen (more...)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Hardcover Available from these sellers. Published June 11, 1987	Hardcover, June 11, 1987	--	$39.99	$1.50
Paperback $16.50 In Stock. Published December 7, 1997	Paperback, December 7, 1997	$16.50	$13.88	$6.99
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite Calvinist sermons on thrift, the Dutch upper and middle classes flaunted their wealth in the consumer paradise that was 17th century Hollandbut they lived uneasily with material riches. How the Dutch reconciled piety with their commitment to profits is just one of the conundrums explored in this cultural history by a Harvard professor. Netherlandic seafarers built a world empire in just two generations; the Dutch nation's precocious rise to power as presented here helps to explain their defensive patriotism, the mania of housewives for cleanliness and the ideal of the family as a miniature commonwealth. The Dutch urge to classify was evident in everything from their tulip classification system to paintings of children's games. Delving into customs, beliefs, popular art and quirks of behavior, Schama has fashioned a tour de force, a profound, unconventional and rewarding portrait of a people. Photos not seen by PW. Reader's Subscription Book Club alternate.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When and how did the Dutch become Dutch? At the start of the 16th century, they possessed neither common political heritage, religion, nor tongue. "The most extraordinary invention of this country . . . was its own culture," says Schama. He catalogs the elements of the Dutchman's identity. His gluttony, obsession with cleanliness, pursuit of wealth, love of family and children, and enshrinement of the home all point to dichotomies and ambivalences that shaped Dutch character. The Dutch sought a way to safeguard themselves from a fall from grace while permitting them to enjoy the bounteous benefits of the material world. The Scriptures set the framework for this discourse, humanist teachings shaped their answers. A satisfying addition to the growing literature on sensibilities in the early modern era. Recommended. David Keymer, Dean of Students, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Utica
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 698 pages
Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (June 12, 1987)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0394510755
ISBN-13: 978-0394510750
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #376,150 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
In high summer, Amsterdam smells of frying oil, shag tobacco and unwashed beer glasses. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
patriotic scripture, drowning cell, dagelijks brood, kopergeld van, der zeventiende eeuw, der vrouwen, drie eeuwen, standing salts, city orphanage, five guilders, whale stranded, achttiende eeuw, political prints, thousand guilders, hundred guilders, grand pensionary, tulip mania, golden century, mare liberum, brothel scene, merry company

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Harvard University, Houghton Library, Jan Steen, Dutch Republic, States General, Jacob Cats, William the Silent, Roemer Visscher, National Gallery, Reformed Church, Romeyn de Hooghe, States of Holland, Vrouw Schrader, Atlas van Stolk, Courtesy of the Trustees, Jan Luiken, Adriaen van de Venne, Bodleian Library, East Indies, North Sea, Amsterdamsch Hoerdom, Frans Hals, Jan Miense Molenaer, Johan de Brune, Pieter de Hooch

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 59 books:

Dutch Prints of Daily Life: Mirrors of Life or Masks of Morals? : Essays and Catalogue by Linda Stone-Ferrier on 5 pages
Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt by Clifford S. Ackley on 4 pages
The Fable of the Bees: And Other Writings by Bernard Mandeville on 4 pages
Dutch Painting (Phaidon Colour Library) by Christopher Brown in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion by Leo Steinberg in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)

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100 books cite this book:

Tulipomania : The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused by Mike Dash on 14 pages
Innocence Abroad: The Dutch Imagination and the New World, 1570-1670 by Benjamin Schmidt on 9 pages
Civic Charity in a Golden Age: ORPHAN CARE IN EARLY MODERN AMSTERDAM by Anne McCants on 6 pages
Spinoza and Theory (The Bucknell Lectures in Literary Theory) by Christopher Norris on 5 pages
A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times (Themes in History) by Colin Heywood on 5 pages

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Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Daily Life in Rembrandt's Holland by Paul Zumthor

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)

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71 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful view on Dutch culture and insight on ours, February 27, 2001

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (Paperback)

Ever wonder why London is a great metropolis? Well, the development of Amsterdam as a trading hub had a lot to do with it. This book goes into the intertwining of Dutch, English (and thus American) history and gives more information than you ever thought possible about Dutch culture.

We usually think of tulips, windmills, cheese and wooden shoes when asked about the Netherlands. Most people don't know that during the late 1600's and during the 1700's, the Dutch were the powerhouse of Europe. They defined Trade with a capital "T" and spread goods, fads (tulip speculation--a bit like the dot-com pheonomenon of the 90's) and much, much more. The Dutch wealth explosion also created the true middle class, and the idea that wealth is created and not inherited.

To understand American culture and history, you'd be well advised to read Simon Schama's book. It's enjoyable and sheds a lot of light on our own heritage.

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79 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Moral Vision of the Golden Age, March 11, 2000

By	James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (Paperback)

The other reviews I have read of this book are excellent, but I have decided to add my voice to show how the book has made me see history in a different light.

From the outset, Schama shows us a people whose success is based on a shared moral vision that utterly permeates their art and literature. In this country, we tend to be fixated on the art of England, France, and Italy, with a few side-trips to Germany, Russia, and the Orient. Before Schama, I thought of the Netherlands as an "auxiliary" country with no particular vision of its own.

I am delighted to have been proven wrong. THE EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES carries its theme like a mighty wave through hundreds of pages that read like a short essay. Here is this little country retrieved largely from the sea and mud, surrounded by powerful enemies who have repeatedly invaded and savaged it, and yet prevailing in its gentle and remarkably tolerant essence over the centuries. One does not survive this level of pain as a people unless one learns the lessons of cooperation, of tolerance, and of humor.

Several weeks ago, I found myself in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. My attention was riveted by a still life of cut-up fruit and seafood that I had seen before, but never stopped to examine. This time I did and looked more closely. Swarming or buzzing over the food were a small army of ants and other insects. The painters of the Golden Age were trying to teach us a lesson, gently, of the transitoriness of all that is good and beautiful. Life is good now, but the waters and the nations are building up for another assault.

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32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tulipmania, Beached Whales, and Family Life, June 23, 2000

By	C. Gilbert "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (Paperback)

I've lived in the Netherlands for four years, and found this book to be both delightful and illuminating. Particularly for expats living here in the Netherlands, it sets a good base for understanding Dutch life-- but I think it's the sort of book that anyone who loves history would enjoy.

Embarassment of Riches focuses on almost every element of Dutch life-- political sphere, standard of living, role of women, treatment of children, moral taboos, legal standards, attitudes towards money and so much more. The writing is direct, stylish, and witty and the illustrations are well-chosen and clearly add to the point of the author.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars serious scholar
This book is execellent but it is definately not light reading. It offers a deep, profound anlyses but it also requires the reader to have at least some preliminary knowledge of... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Dessislava Boneva

3.0 out of 5 stars A tough nut to crack
I read a good portion of the book, but must admit that I had a lot of difficulty getting into it. As an undergraduate history major 10+ years ago, I had done some coursework on... Read more

Published on August 22, 2007 by Robert Fishman

5.0 out of 5 stars Appreciate your Gouda !
Schama has done it again and brought this often forgotten power out of the dark. I have always been keen on the Netherlands and knew quite a bit about their colourful history but... Read more

Published on January 4, 2007 by Tracey A. Williams

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Tempted To Say: For Serious Scholars Only
During the three generations in which Holland was a global superpower---and one of the world's first economic superpowers at that---the Dutch people lived amid luxury and... Read more

Published on November 21, 2006 by Penny Dreadful

2.0 out of 5 stars Tough sledding and not for amateurs
I cannot say if this book is good or not. I have waded through one hundred pages and know that reading ten books a week for twenty-five or thirty years has left me insufficiently... Read more

Published on July 12, 2005 by pluto

4.0 out of 5 stars Mixing Mediums
Simon Schama's 1987 exploration of early modern Dutch culture, The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age, is a thumping good read. Read more

Published on May 13, 2005 by Daniel A. Stone

4.0 out of 5 stars a glutton's delight: too much, but oh so good
Massive and rambling, this is a history book without very finely drawn parameters. Schama, in my reading, wanted to cover the whole of a unique humanist culture - tolerant,... Read more

Published on December 15, 2003 by Robert J. Crawford

4.0 out of 5 stars Dutch History Brought to Life
The Embarrassment of Riches explores the emergence of a distinctive Dutch cultural and commercial identity in the Netherlands over three generations during the seventeenth century... Read more

Published on October 30, 2003 by Richard Sheridan

4.0 out of 5 stars Nurturing a new republic
From a rich foundation of material and an exquisite writing style, Schama guides us through the formative years of the Dutch Republic. Read more

Published on September 18, 2003 by Stephen A. Haines

1.0 out of 5 stars Incoherent, Virtually Unreadable
With all the spectacular reviews Professor Schama's book on the Dutch has received, this reader feels awkward at going against the grain. Read more

Published on July 25, 2003 by Derek Leaberry

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