0
    • Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
    0 0
    Download high-resolution image Look inside

    The Embarrassment of Riches

    An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

    Author Simon Schama
    Look inside
    Paperback
    $29.00 US
    Knopf | Vintage
    6.6"W x 9.25"H x 1.5"D  
    On sale Dec 08, 1997 | 720 Pages | 9780679781240
    Grades AP/IB
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    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.

    "History on the grand scale...An ambitious portrait of one of the most remarkable episodes in modern history."--The New York Times


    "Wonderfully inclusive; with wit and intense curiosity he teases out meaning from every aspect of Dutch seventeenth-century life."--Robert Hughes
    © Marion Ettlinger
    Simon Schama is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University in New York. His publications include Patriots and Liberators, The Embarrassment of Riches, Citizens, Dead Certainties, Landscape and Memory, and Rembrandt's Eyes. View titles by Simon Schama

    About

    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.

    "History on the grand scale...An ambitious portrait of one of the most remarkable episodes in modern history."--The New York Times


    "Wonderfully inclusive; with wit and intense curiosity he teases out meaning from every aspect of Dutch seventeenth-century life."--Robert Hughes

    Author

    © Marion Ettlinger
    Simon Schama is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University in New York. His publications include Patriots and Liberators, The Embarrassment of Riches, Citizens, Dead Certainties, Landscape and Memory, and Rembrandt's Eyes. View titles by Simon Schama

    Other Books by this Author

    Related Articles

    History

    Books for Black History Month

    In honor of Black History Month this February, we are highlighting essential fiction and nonfiction for students, teachers, and parents to share and discuss this month and beyond. Join Penguin Random House Education in celebrating the contributions of Black authors and illustrators by exploring the titles here: BLACK HISTORY – MIDDLE SCHOOL BLACK HISTORY –

    Read more

    Books for Black History Month

    History

    Penguin Random House Secondary Education

    © 2026 Penguin Random House

    Back to Top
    0
    Wish List (0)