description: Schama explores the mysterious contradictions of the Dutch nation that invented itself from the ground up, attained an unprecedented level of affluence, and lived in constant dread of being corrupted by happiness. Drawing on a vast array of period documents and sumptuously reproduced art, Schama re-creates in precise detail a nation's mental state. He tells of bloody uprisings and beached whales, of the cult of hygiene and the plague of tobacco, of thrifty housewives and profligate tulip-speculators. He tells us how the Dutch celebrated themselves and how they were slandered by their enemies.
language: English
title: The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age
titlecomplete: The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age
genres: Cultural, Art History, Historical, European History, 17th Century, Holland, Nonfiction, Economics, Art, History
ratings_count: 2035
publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd