History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce, 1605-07
History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce, 1605-07
Motley chronicles the desperate early years of the Dutch Republic, when a fledgling nation clung to existence against the vast resources of the Spanish Empire. The period from 1605 to 1607 represents a critical juncture: Maurice of Nassau's military stature wanes as political factions fracture along class and religious lines, while external pressures intensify and winter weather becomes as formidable an enemy as any Spanish tercio. This is history rendered with Victorian sweep, where diplomatic machinations and battlefield calculus intertwine, and where the very survival of the Republic hangs on the fragile thread of unified purpose. Motley brings considerable narrative gifts to the task, rendering siege warfare and political intrigue with equal vividness, though his 19th-century prose expectations may test modern patience. For readers drawn to the crucible of nation-making, to the question of how liberty is won and nearly lost in its first fragile years, this volume offers an American historian's devoted reckoning with the Dutchman's improbable revolution.
