History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce, 1602-03
History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce, 1602-03
Motley, the first American historian to win international acclaim, chronicles the precarious birth of the Dutch Republic in its most desperate hour. Having just lost William the Silent to assassination in 1584, the northern provinces faced the full wrath of Spain's seemingly invincible empire. What follows is a sweeping account of endurance, calculation, and unexpected triumph: Prince Maurice of Nassau's military reforms, the grinding horror of the siege of Ostend (which would claim over 100,000 lives before its end), and the meteoric rise of a small trading nation that dared to challenge the greatest power in Europe. Motley's Victorian prose brings a cast of formidable characters to vivid life, from Spanish generals to Dutch merchants, while tracing how commerce and warfare became inseparable in the struggle for independence. The book culminates with the establishment of the United East India Company, marking the moment when the Dutch Republic began its transformation into a global commercial superpower. Though dense and scholarly, this is history written with the urgency of a novel, capturing the moment when a handful of stubborn provinces refused to kneel.
