From Publishers Weekly

England's almost bloodless Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which the Dutch king William of Orange overthrew James II, began as a hostile takeover but rapidly turned into a friendly merger, according to British historian Jardine (_The Awful End of Prince William the Silent_). She explores the fascinating Anglo-Dutch relationship to answer how and why two sworn foes became friends so seamlessly. Jardine focuses mainly on the subterranean intellectual, cultural and scientific intersections between the two countries and finds that contacts were continuous and mutually advantageous for decades before William's invasion. Cross-border fertilization resulted in two of the greatest painters of the age—Peter Paul Rubens and Anton van Dyck—working for English patrons while esteemed members of the Royal Society (such as Isaac Newton) corresponded with their Netherlandish counterparts (such as Christian Huygens). By looking so closely at elite opinion, however, Jardine too lightly dismisses the virility of petty nationalism lower down the scale and too easily glosses over the very real military tensions between the two powers. Nevertheless, this is a highly original work that will appeal to fans of Simon Schama's groundbreaking The Embarrassment of Riches. Color and b&w illus. (Sept.)
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Exploring the cultural interchange between England and the Netherlands in the mid-1600s, historian Jardine focuses on the royal and courtier circles that cultivated the arts and sciences blossoming in that period. Her effusively illustrated book reproduces nearly 100 contemporary images of paintings and prints, each of which leads into the text, which discusses their connective role between the two countries. Jardine also traces the connections between the House of Stuart and the House of Orange, whose political interactions culminated in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the drama of which historically overshadows their rich web of cultural relationships, Jardine’s inquiry suggests. Indeed the antagonists James II and William of Orange are instantly recognizable to history readers, whereas Jardine’s protagonist is hardly known. He is Constantijn Huygens (1596–1687), a Dutch diplomat and connoisseur of painting, architecture, and garden design, and father of Christian, the renowned astronomer, and Constantijn, who was William’s secretary during the invasion of England. Weaving the fortunes of the Huygens clan into dynastic dynamics, Jardine richly displays the society in which Rubens and van Dyck flourished. --Gilbert Taylor