The Embarrassment of Riches Audiobook By Simon Schama cover art

The Embarrassment of Riches

An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Embarrassment of Riches

By: Simon Schama
Narrated by: Mike Cooper
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.79

Buy for $25.79

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Simon 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 recreates 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.

©1987 Simon Schama (P)2024 Tantor Media
Europe Sociology Western
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
What an amazing book. It is history at its best.
The author covers everything regarding Dutch life and mentality through the ages.
I grew up in Holland in the late 1940’s to the mid 1950’s, my teenage years.
The description and the mentality of the Dutch are spot on.
I don’t want to go into details, just that I highly recommend listening.
The Dutch have a great sense of humor, often not understood/ appreciated by Americans.
The narrator, Mike Cooper, does an amazing job pronouncing the Dutch words.
It is not an easy language to speak.
I am so sorry that it came to an end.
I have listened to other books by Simon Schama and will continue to do so in the future.
My thanks to all involved, JK

AN ABSOLUTE LISTEN

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Not really a chronological but a psychological history of the Golden Age of the Netherlands. One learns more of what it means to be Dutch than a list of wars and conflicts.

Great!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.