Dutch Wars of Independence

Marjolein ’t Hart is head of the research department on the history of the Netherlands at the Huygens Institute (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) in The Hague and Professor History of State Formation in Global Perspective at VU University Amsterdam. She has published extensively on the early modern history of the Netherlands (in comparative perspective), including books on warfare and state formation (1993) and financial history (1997).

• Timeline of major events. Introduction – The Dutch Revolt, the Military Revolution, and the global context. Chapter 1 – Military events: from the Dutch Revolt to ‘la Guerre de Hollande’, c. 1570-c.1680. Chapter 2 – The making of a professional army. Chapter 3 – The Dutch ‘Schoole of War’: drill, tactics, and siege warfare. Chapter 4 – Garrisons and civic communities: strengthening the local bonds. Chapter 5 – Warfare in the countryside and the threat to farming communities. Chapter 6 – Admiralties, privateers and the colonial connection. Chapter 7 – War and the strength of Dutch public finance. Chapter 8 – Warfare’s new economic opportunities. Conclusion: The advantages of military discipline and commercialized warfare. Bibliography.

"This work is a brilliant success at marrying the latest scholarship and wonderfully clear narrative and synthesis. 't Hart clearly answers one of history's mysteries: how did the northern Netherlands forge a nation out of disparate units; successfully battle the superpower of the 16th century, Spain; build the most successful commercial state in Europe; and experience a Golden Age, all while fighting an 80-year war? Indispensable for collections in early modern Europe, military, or state formation history. Summing Up: Essential." --J. J. Butt, James Madison University, in CHOICE