Reviews (164)

Heart-Warming, Moving Account of the Holocaust
The story of Corrie ten Boom and her family and their work in the Dutch underground during World War II has been around 35 years but this is the first time I've sat down to read this amazing story.I am so glad I did!Built on the premise that love will conquer all, the story shows what relatively normal people can accomplish in extraordinary times.
A Tale Of Love, Courage, And Compassion
In Corrie Ten Boom's book "The Hiding Place", she gives an exciting account of how during the terrifying years of the Holocaust and World War 11 her entire family strove to hide as many Jews as they could from Nazi forces.
A Moving Tale
This is a beautiful, beautiful book. I could read it over and over, and feel touched, inspired, and renewed again. I first tried to read it when I was about twelve years old, but it was two heavy for me. Then I read it a few months ago, and it came alive. This is one book I would definately want to add to my library soon. I love the Ten Boom family - especially Betsy. I am looking forward to meeting them all in heaven someday. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Historical - Holocaust    4. Personal narratives, Dutch    5. Ravensbruck (Germany : concentration camp)    6. Religious    7. Ten Boom, Corrie    8. Women    9. World War, 1939-1945    10. Biography: general    11. History / Holocaust   

Reviews (3)

Great resource for travelers
We used an Eyewitness guide for our trip to London years ago and found it the most helpful of all the guidebooks we had purchsed.The real photos and accurate information made our first trip to Europe go very smoothly.As we plan our second trip, we have not been disappointed by the Amsterdam Eyewitness guide.Again, the striking photographs, maps, and well-organized information makes planning a trip a breeze.Our kids enjoy seeing the places we will visit.

Best travel guide around
I've used some of the Eyewitness Travel Guides on a trip around Europe, they were so useful that when I came home I've bought some more. They are more than travel guides, they are also a souvenir. I totally recommend them. Great pictures, great 3D street maps with suggested routes, great explanations.

Loaded with information
I have used several different travel guides in the past, and the Eyewitness series is one of my favorites. They are colorful and loaded with images, but it's not just eye candy. The images shown are helpful to decide if an attraction interests me enough to actually visit it.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Benelux Countries (BelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourg    2. Europe - Benelux Countries (BelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourg)    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel / Europe / Benelux Countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography And Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Concentration camps    6. Germany    7. Historical - Holocaust    8. Holocaust    9. Holocaust (Religious Aspects)    10. Netherlands    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Personal narratives, Dutch    13. Ravensbrèuck    14. Religious    15. Underground movements    16. Women    17. World War, 1939-1945    18. Religion / Christian Life   

Reviews (15)

Enjoyable Book with Some Flaws
The book is extremely readable pop history with an intriguing thesis.I would recommend it to anyone interested in NYC history or colonial America.Overall, Shorto does a great job of bringing the old colony back to life and keeping the reader's interest. He's a very talented writer. However, I could have done without the (few) lapses into chatty snarkiness - what was that sophomoric, Maureen Dowd-like line about the Puritans and their hats?Same with simplistic comments on the politics of our own times (e.g., Winthrop's "shining city on a hill" devolving into a "cheap battle cry" - more like a cheap shot at President Reagan).
Informative, but Not Convincing
As an American of Dutch descent, I found this book very interesting.Shorto deserves credit for both an easy, readable style and the mountains of research that must be behind the book.He reveals facts and trivia that I never knew about.The book truly adds to the reader's knowledge of the beginnings of our country.
a huge analytical flaw that undermines the rest
This is a well-written and seemingly well-researched book that has at the center of its thesis the idea that the Dutch brought religious tolerance to America. Yet amazingly Shorto nowhere mentions Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island on the basis of absolute religious freedom, the first government anywhere in the world to practice total separation of chruch and state. People were being kicked out of "tolerant" New Amsterdam/New York because of their religion, and they then fled to R.I.
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Subjects:  1. 17th century    2. Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775    3. Dutch Americans    4. History    5. History - U.S.    6. History: American    7. Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)    8. New York    9. New York (N.Y.)    10. New York (State)    11. New York - Local History    12. U.S. History - Colonial Period (1607-1775)    13. United States - Colonial Period    14. United States - State & Local - General    15. United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic    16. History / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775)   

Editorial Review

I must confess that initially I tried to skim this book. But it was far too good, and I ended up spending hours totally engrossed in the lives, loves, and letters of the Lennox sisters--Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah. Author Stella Tillyard gives a second life to these 18th-century aristocrats, whose extended family included some of the most significant and colorful British political figures of the era. She mixes impeccable research, a sharp eye for detail, and a writing style that's both precise and lively to produce a biography of a clan that doubles as a panoramic history of the aristocracy in the 1700s.Read more

Reviews (14)

Competent work on an intriguing subject
This case study of a socially and politically prominent family of bluebloods throughout the Hanoverian and Regency periods actually begins with Charles Lennox (created 1st Duke of Richmond), who was the illegitimate offspring of Charles II and Louise de K�roualle (created Duchess of Portsmouth as a reward). The four ladies in question were daughters of the second duke and the great-granddaughters of the king. All of them married leading politicians and/or peers, all were both very private and very much in the public eye, and all were well educated, especially for women in that time. Because they were women, their influence was necessarily indirect, but they certainly were influential -- although, as Tillyard, an award-winning historian, shows, they were more concerned with family matters: childrearing, household finances, entertaining on behalf of their husbands, and trying to maintain a degree of personal freedom. But above all, they were always aware of their origins. Since this book was written for the popular market, there are no footnotes, but the author's use of public documents and private family journals and correspondence is extensive, and quotations are frequent.

History which is as good as a novel
When I lived in England some years ago I read this book and recommended it to a dear friend who was incontestably an "Aristocrat" in every sense that it's used in Britain. My friend said that she was reading it, too, and though she could barely bring herself to pronounce the name of the book (which she considered embarassing), she loved it because it perfectly evoked the 18th century as history, and yet was as engrossing a page-turner as a novel. Stella Tillyard gets it just right in her fine quadruple biography. Buy it!

AN EXCELLENT READIFYOU UNDERSTANDAFOREIGN LANGUAGE
This is an excellent book and a fast read.Stella Tillyard captures an age and the people who lived it as though she were there herself.I would give this book a 5 but for one serious flaw I find in many a book.Is the author trying to impress her audience with her vast knowledge of French?Or simply trying toRead more

Subjects:  1. 18th century    2. 19th century    3. Aristocracy (Social class)    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Great Britain    8. Great Britain - History - 18th Century    9. Historical - British    10. History    11. Sisters    12. Women    13. Women - 18th Century History    14. Family    15. Holland, Georgiana Caroline Fox    16. Lennox family    17. Lennox, Sarah   

Reviews (43)

Remembering The Forgotten Colony
In 1638, Jan Snedegar is noted as operating a tavern or inn on Long Island. A 19th-century incarnation of the Snedecor Inn is still standing, in Connetquot River State Park Preserve. I am one of his descendants, 14 generations later. Snedecor was my mother's maiden name; she grew up on Long Island.
New York : ADutch Treat
I enjoyed this bookand learned a great deal of interesting facts.It dragged at times, butkeep with it. I had some valleys but alot of hills. Some of the historical people in the story of Manhattan became flesh and blood for me. The Dutch influence onNew York wasgreat. Every New Yorker should read it.

Global Politics, Colonial Economy and Cultural Conflict
This book is invaluable because it reminds us that America did not spring up overnight like Athena from Zeus' brow.
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Subjects:  1. 17th century    2. Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775    3. Dutch Americans    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History - U.S.    7. History: American    8. Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)    9. New York    10. New York (N.Y.)    11. New York (State)    12. U.S. History - Colonial Period (1607-1775)    13. United States - Colonial Period    14. United States - State & Local - General    15. United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic    16. United States Local History    17. History / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775)   

Reviews (8)

Truly Splendid
This book truly is the difinitive work on Dutch history. The sheer volume and description of detail makes the book very informative. The vivid writing style and the subdivision of the chapters gives the reader the ability to speed through the book in addition to breaking down and digesting each main idea clearly. The maps, charts, and graphs are clear and give the reader an illustration to the detail of the text. Also, the explanation of the Dutch Republican government, which is anything but simple, was clear and precise. I plan on using this book in my classes for reference. A truly great book.

For all of you Dutch I have only one word "READ !!!!!"
The best historybook I have ever read with no doubt. I think in a small 1300 pages I never learned so much about my own history than I learned in the 2 weeks I spend to read this book. By now I have read it 3 times and if only have time I would pick ip up and read it again and again till I can dream whats in there. The 17th & 18th century is with no doubt one of the most interesting parts in the history of the world. Strangely it was my own country that played the most important role in this very interesting time. Flawed but Interesting Book
This is a frustrating book to review. It is one of the worst-edited books I have read in a long time, yet it contains a wealth of intersting information. It is comprehensive and well-enough explained to interest a lay reader, but it is difficult to read beyond what is necessary given the dryness of the subject matter. First, the good: Israel presents almost a year-by-year discussion of Dutch politics, economics, and demographics. His presentation is highly detailed, generally offering his arguments first, then backing them up with substantial data. Israel has pulled together statistics of population growth, economic activity, and political positions in a wealth of tables. Finally, he defines his terms clearly, then uses them consistently. Now, the bad: This is one of the worst-edited books I can imagine. Israel's excessive use of commas in the most inappropriate places makes reading this work a chore. His meaning is obscured by the incorrect use of punctuation. In short, his editor should [have done a better editing job]. Second, the editing goes downhill toward the end of the book. Whereas the first 2/3 of the text clearly presents the major political events, then follows them with the appropriate economic, social, and demographic consequences, the latter part of the book reverses this presentation. This leaves the reader to infer major political events (like the French invasion of 1792-1794) from the discussion of demographics, economics, or social trends. A consequence of this decline in editing is that the explanation of why the Dutch republic declined is not presented clearly. If the reader pays close attention and has a good grounding in economics, he can understand what must have been going on behind the scenes. But the big story of the sudden decline of one of the major maritime powers in the world is not clearly told. Finally, Israel often uses text where a table would be more appropriate. He will take three pages to go through the voting record of each city in each province, rather than summarize the data in a table. The 1100 pages of the book could easily be reduced by several hundred without impacting the support of Israel's arguments and make the book much more readable in the process. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - General History    3. History: World    4. Western Europe - Benelux    5. Western Europe - General    6. Western Europe - History    7. Cultural studies    8. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    9. History / Europe / Western    10. History, World | European    11. Netherlands    12. Social history    13. c 1500 to c 1600    14. c 1600 to c 1700    15. c 1700 to c 1800    16. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (15)

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 prepared for the verbal density. It is up there on the shelf next to William Gass, and I plan to pull it down the next time I feel strong enough.

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.The work is a piece of sprawling brilliance combining analysis of art, architecture, religion, economics, and literature of both the high and low variety which seeks to explore the peculiarities of a culture of abundance amidst the extreme scarcity of early modern Europe-a synthesis of social and political history with few equals.Although the book redounds with wit and powerful insights about the nature of this truly exceptional society, its very scope and ambition-to integrate a massive synthesis of material into a comprehensive history book using both text and artwork-stretches the medium of history book writing nearly to the breaking point.The Embarrassment of Riches suffers from problems that seem to be inherent to the mixing of mediums.
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, intelligent, united by outside threats and not so much by Calvinism, and loosely structured in the era of absolutism.Focusing largely on paintings, prints, and writings, Schama offers a dazzling tour - the only trouble is, he seems to want to cover everything, and in the process the thread of narrative is lost from the very beginning in all the luscious details.While it is far better than Landscape and Memory in terms of unity of theme, there are long passages where it is near-impossilbe to tell where schama wants to go or what he really has to say.Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Western Europe - Benelux    6. Western Europe - General    7. History / Europe / Western   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Germany    2. History - Military / War    3. Military - World War II    4. Western Europe - Benelux    5. European history: Second World War    6. History / Military / World War II   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    4. Dutch painting    5. European    6. Exhibition Catalogs    7. Exhibitions    8. Hooch, Pieter de    9. Individual Artist    10. Techniques - Painting    11. History of art & design styles: c 1400 to c 1600    12. Individual artists    13. Netherlands    14. Painting & paintings   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Design    5. Design & Drafting    6. Design - General    7. Design, Industrial    8. Exhibitions    9. History    10. International Architecture - European    11. Netherlands   

Reviews (5)

Amsterdam by Geert Mak
I read this book in Dutch, and lived in Amsterdam for many years. Being an (ex)Amsterdammer, I guess there are many things you take for granted, and I certainly subscribe to Mak's explanation that one of them is "being proud of not being proud". Entertaining, Rich, Informative
Een kleine geschiedenis van Amsterdam (the Dutch Title of this book) has been on my friends' must-read lists since it was released in Dutch in 1995. I have finally gotten around now to reading it, and am only sorry that I hadn't read it sooner.
Very readable
This was a very readable account of Amsterdams history. Of course it would take a five volume history to do full justice to the city but this was admirable in its ability to cover high points while not being a dull textbook account.The prose was very good and not dry at all. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Amsterdam (Netherlands)    2. Economic conditions    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Western Europe - Benelux    7. Western Europe - General    8. Western Europe - History    9. History / Europe / Western    10. Western Continental Europe   

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. History: World    4. Military - Aviation    5. Military - General    6. Military - United States    7. Military - World War II    8. History / Military / World War II   

Reviews (4)

beautiful pics
this book has beautiful photos but is not for someone who has a normal country place. it doesn't have ideas that working class america can afford. lots of swimming pools,golfing greens, and tennis courts.

Just what we were looking for
Paul Bennett's book of Edmund Hollander Landscape design has been an important resource to us as we plan the renovation of our property. The diversity of designs presented from a variety of perspectives have given us a wealth of ideas. Most unusual is the quality of photographs which sadly, in most of the other landscape books we have looked at, don't seem to do their subject justice. The photographs alone make this book well worth the price.

Beautifully photographed
This is a visually appealing and instructive book. Like the gardens themselves, the photography of Betsy Pinover Schiff is strong, luxuriant, and imaginative. Whether a sweeping panorama or a featured detailed, she reveals the abundance of architectural elements and vistas in beautiful light. A "must have" book for anyone contemplating gardens on a grand scale, or for anyone who simply desires the pleasure of viewing country landscaping photographed at its best. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Garden Design    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Landscape    5. Garden design & planning    6. Gardens (descriptions, history etc)    7. Landscape art & architecture   

Editorial Review

The great 17th-century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn left us so many arresting self-portraits, painted at every stage in his eventful life, that his distinctive face and bearing are a familiar part of the 20th-century cultural landscape, a recognizable presence in galleries across Europe and North America. Nonetheless, the artist himself remains an enigma. Rembrandt was a notoriously difficult man and an inveterate risk taker in life and art: his aspirations to a grandiose Amsterdam lifestyle in the heyday of his popularity as a painter of portraits and large-scale historical works bankrupted him, and he died in relative poverty. His personal effects and treasured collection of paintings and natural rarities were sold off and dispersed, leaving the historian with a tantalizingly scant body of fragmentary records around which to build a convincing biography. Read more

Reviews (19)

A MUST READ
I think most of the reviews below cover the bases pretty well, the only criticism I can think of is the book might have been better off printed in the full "coffee table art book" size so the reproductions cited in the text would have been larger...but what a fabulous work it is, an utterly fascinating evocation of a time and place. Even if you only have a peripheral interest in the subject, you will be drawn into the sweep of the narrative through Mr Schama's depth of knowledge and skillful intertwining of the personal and the public world of 17th century Holland. I cannot think of another recent book that I have enjoyed so thoroughly.

Doesn't have a focus and objective....very boring
When i bought this book, I thought that it would be an amazing and definitive book about one of the most brilliant genius of art. A masterpiece worthy of Rembrandt's life and works
Simon Schama's REMBRANDT'S EYES is undoubtedly one of the authoritative works on Rembrandt's life and paintings. Schama vividly depicts the unparalled and tortured genius of Rembrandt, a man who was brilliant in success and even more so during tragedy. To understand Rembrandt's paintings is to understand the man behind each brushstroke: strong-willed, prideful, and uncompromising in his art. Schama conveys the essence of Rembrandt with such force and effectiveness that we cannot help but appreciate Rembrandt's tragic life and artistic genius.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1577-1640    2. 1606-1669    3. Artists, Architects, Photographers    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Dutch painters    9. European    10. Historical - General    11. Individual Artist    12. Individual Painters - 17th Century    13. Netherlands    14. Painters    15. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn    16. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn,    17. Rubens, Peter Paul,    18. Sir,    19. Biography & Autobiography / Artists, Architects, Photographers    20. Influence    21. Rubens, Peter Paul   

Reviews (6)

Never looked at it after the first time
I just returned from amsterdam and I brought some internet materials that I printed out (different articles) and two guide books, I never looked at this one while I was there.I dont think it has a lot of really useful information, there just arent a lot of details provided - it feels like it tries to cover too much.
Amsterdam travel guide
We have been very pleased with all of the Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides that we have purchased for cities we were visiting.The guides are concise, listing the 10 most popular sites to see under a variety of categories.The Amsterdam guide is exactly what we need to carry with us so we will have it as an easy reference.I expecially like the colored pictures along with the text.

Not Quite the Only Book You Need
I have used the "Top 10" travel guides on several trips to Europe.They are small and thin enough to fit in a purse, have great maps and are usually all you need.The "Top 10 Amsterdam" guide is somewhat deficient, however.
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Subjects:  1. Amsterdam (Netherlands)    2. Europe - Benelux Countries (BelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourg    3. Europe - Benelux Countries (BelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourg)    4. Guidebooks    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel / Europe / Benelux Countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)   

Subjects:  1. 1606-1669    2. 1633-1659    3. 17th century    4. Art    5. Art & Art Instruction    6. Attribution    7. Criticism and interpretation    8. Drost, Willem,    9. History - General    10. Influence    11. Italy    12. Painting    13. Painting, Dutch    14. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn,    15. Travel    16. Art / General    17. Baroque art    18. Individual artists    19. Painting & paintings   

Reviews (3)

Enormous Info on Obscure Battle
Mr. Womack is to be commended for his attention to a particular element of World War II.Rather than trying to encompass the entire war into a single book he spends time examining a pivitol yet widely unknown saga of WWII.Historians and war buffs will want to read this book.

Great book on MLD
Tom Womack has written an very thorough book on Dutch naval aviation in the East. As a Dutchman it's interesting to read about the history of the MLD from an outside perspective. Well, researched, nice new pictures. Well worth reading!

I Am The Author Of This Book
As the author of this text, I am perhaps being somewhat biased when I say that this book easily represents the most complete description of the naval air war in the Netherlands East Indies compiled to date in any language.The result of 11 years of research, it details the role of the Dutch Naval Air Force (MLD) and its doomed from the start effort to stem the Japanese invasion of the former Netherlands East Indies between December 1941 - March 1942.While there have been a number of English language sources highlighting the role of American and British naval air operations few, if any, have detailed the actions of their Dutch allies in any measurable detail.It is for this reason that I undertook this project.
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Subjects:  1. Aerial operations, Dutch    2. Campaigns    3. General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History - Military / War    7. History: World    8. Indonesia    9. Military - Aviation    10. Military - General    11. Military - World War II    12. Netherlands    13. Regimental histories    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. Air forces & warfare    16. European history: Second World War    17. Japan    18. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. 15th-16th Century Art    2. 16th century    3. 17th century    4. Art    5. Art & Art Instruction    6. Criticism    7. European    8. History - General    9. Netherlands    10. Portrait Painting    11. Portrait painting, Dutch    12. Portraits, Group    13. Subjects & Themes - Human Figure    14. Art & Architecture | History | 17th C European    15. Art / Criticism    16. History of art & design styles: c 1400 to c 1600    17. History of art & design styles: c 1600 to c 1800    18. Painting & paintings    19. Portraits in art    20. c 1500 to c 1600    21. c 1600 to c 1700   

Editorial Review

Philip Steadman's remarkable book Read more

Reviews (4)

Well researched and tolerably convincing
This is a very well researched book.The author has taken great pains to measure and analyze Vermeer's paintings, finding a striking feature that many of them, when back-projected through the perspective view point at the size of the painting, imply a consistent location of a back wall to the common room used in the pictures.The author asserts that the only reasonable explanation for this coincidence is that Vermeer used a camera obscura for at least some of the layout of his paintings.
Interesting, scholarly study
Did Vermeer use optical aids, like a camera obscura, in crafting his wonderful paintings: yes or no?
A Detective Story for VermeerLovers
This treasure is actually a mystery novel in the guise of an art book! Steadman cleverly examines the long-held debate over Vermeer's alleged use of camera-like inventions to help create his masterworks. He does so by constructing models of the rooms, examining long-overlooked clues and engaging in some very pragmatic thinking. At times Steadman almost comes across as art history's answer to Lt. Colombo, which is a compliment. This is a very readable and enjoyable book for any art lover who also loves a good mystery, brain teasers, and practical application of optics. My only quibble is that additional illustrations and plates would have helped Steadman make his point better. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Camera obscuras    4. European    5. History    6. History - General    7. History - Renaissance    8. Individual Artist    9. Painting, Dutch    10. Photography, Pinhole    11. Art & Architecture | History | 17th C European    12. Art / Individual Artist    13. History of art & design styles: c 1600 to c 1800    14. Individual artists    15. Netherlands&nb