The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

During the three generations in which Holland was a global superpower---and one of the world's first economic superpowers at that---the Dutch people lived amid luxury and plentitude never before seen in northern Europe. Simon Schama's comprehensive study of this nation and period explores and details anything that could possibly be asked about the seventeenth-century Netherlands. This is a tough book to break into, to continue forward into once the task of reading it has begun, and its density will put many people off. It lacks the approachability of say a David McCullough or Stephen Ambrose book, but if someone wants serious information about its subject matter, there is no other more complete source that I know of than The Embarrassment of Riches. To read this book is to come away with an intimate knowledge of the Dutch Golden Age, and that's a high compliment.

I've lived in the Netherlands for four years, and found this book to be both delightful and illuminating. Particularly for expats living here in the Netherlands, it sets a good base for understanding Dutch life-- but I think it's the sort of book that anyone who loves history would enjoy.Embarassment of Riches focuses on almost every element of Dutch life-- political sphere, standard of living, role of women, treatment of children, moral taboos, legal standards, attitudes towards money and so much more. The writing is direct, stylish, and witty and the illustrations are well-chosen and clearly add to the point of the author.

The other reviews I have read of this book are excellent, but I have decided to add my voice to show how the book has made me see history in a different light. From the outset, Schama shows us a people whose success is based on a shared moral vision that utterly permeates their art and literature. In this country, we tend to be fixated on the art of England, France, and Italy, with a few side-trips to Germany, Russia, and the Orient. Before Schama, I thought of the Netherlands as an "auxiliary" country with no particular vision of its own. I am delighted to have been proven wrong. THE EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES carries its theme like a mighty wave through hundreds of pages that read like a short essay. Here is this little country retrieved largely from the sea and mud, surrounded by powerful enemies who have repeatedly invaded and savaged it, and yet prevailing in its gentle and remarkably tolerant essence over the centuries. One does not survive this level of pain as a people unless one learns the lessons of cooperation, of tolerance, and of humor. Several weeks ago, I found myself in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. My attention was riveted by a still life of cut-up fruit and seafood that I had seen before, but never stopped to examine. This time I did and looked more closely. Swarming or buzzing over the food were a small army of ants and other insects. The painters of the Golden Age were trying to teach us a lesson, gently, of the transitoriness of all that is good and beautiful. Life is good now, but the waters and the nations are building up for another assault.

Just like everything this extraordinary writer has published, "An Embarrassment of Riches" is an astonishingly brilliant, insightful and thought-provoking cultural history. I wait with hunger for his books; fortunately they tend to be five-course dinners with dessert, brandy and cigars afterwards. "An Embarrassment" is just such a literary and historical feast. I cannot recommend Mr. Schama's books enough.

By writing this book the author accomplished a true masterpiece (in the 17th century meaning) by describing the origins of wealth of one of the most affluent nations in the world: The Netherlands. His detailed account of the dynamics of The Netherland's social fabric in that time explains exactly why The Netherlands is the world's most successful nation in terms of high net worth per capita, standard of living and social culture. On social culture in particular the author's excellent explanation of the word "gezellig" explains that he grasped Dutch society in all its peculiar detail. One unsatisfactory result from reading this masterpiece is the urge to learn more about the more recent history of this magnificient country in the Rhine estuary as Schaamhaar's compelling description of the Dutch social history would indeed lerit reconciliation of the Dutch social roots with its current leading role in the world by showing a high tolerance to foreigners, polit! ical refugees, its softdrugs policy, its leading role in the sexual revolution banning all taboos, the successes of the Dutch national soccer team in the world championships in France and providing a sound answer to the question why travellers in any part of the world will always end up running into the ephimeral Dutch visitor and why the Dutch consider Belgians generally stupid etc.