"In the struggle against Spanish dominion, the Netherlands emerged as one of the greatest maritime empires in the world. In just a few years, the country gained control over vast territories: from Indonesia to the West Indies, from South Africa to South America.
Charles Boxer, a professor at Yale University and the author of a number of historical works, presents the Netherlands in the 16th-18th centuries. Explaining the reasons for the rapid rise of such a small country to power, Boxer highlights how and why there was a tumultuous development in industry, maritime trade, agricultural abundance, and cultural flourishing. He analyzes the state of science, technology, the education system, attitudes towards religion, the institution of marriage, everyday life, the organization of charity, and entertainment, recreating vivid images of the adventurism and wild lifestyles of the Dutch in all four corners of the world. The author then traces the lamentable transition from the golden age to the age of wigs — a time of "no monarchy" — frequent changes of power, and French incursions."
