450 Years of Leadership: The Technological Bloom of Holland in the 14th-18th Centuries and What Followed

Innovation and progress are important sections of economic history and the history of technology. In this book, Karel Davids conducts a deep analysis of the issue of technological leadership by examining the history of the Dutch Republic, which is considered the first modern economy. By studying a vast amount of European archival materials, printed sources, and secondary literature, Davids offers a broad overview of Dutch technological progress in Europe, from the High Middle Ages to the early Modern period, explains the entire process of rise and decline, and extends the case of Holland to the evolution of technological leadership as a whole.

The book "450 Years of Leadership: The Technological Bloom of Holland in the 14th-18th Centuries and What Followed" will be of interest to everyone who wants to learn more about the development of technology in the early modern period, trace the connection between technological changes and the economic rise of the Dutch Republic, and also view the situation in the Netherlands in the early modern period from a broader perspective.