This was a very readable account of Amsterdams history. Of course it would take a five volume history to do full justice to the city but this was admirable in its ability to cover high points while not being a dull textbook account.The prose was very good and not dry at all.

I read this book in preparation for a visit to Amsterdam, and my visit was far more enjoyable and interesting as a result. You owe it to the Amsterdammers to read this book before spending any amount of time in their city--you'll have a much deeper understanding to inform your stay. Imagine reading stories about Chicago by Studs Terkel before visiting that city.

It's really too bad, though, that such a good book has suffered such incompetent editing. Harvard University Press should be ashamed of itself--misspellings, strange punctuation, inconsistent formatting--did anyone actually look at the copy before it went to press?

I loved this book. After visiting and falling in love with Amsterdam, I sought to learn more of its history. This book does a great job of putting you inside the city throughout its long and remarkable history. From the first settlements at the edge of the wetlands to its zenith as the world's foremost trading power to modern times, author Mak makes the history come alive by focusing on individuals as well as the average Amsterdamer. Blom's translation is impeccable (I often find that Dutch translates very well to English). Highly recommended to the discerning traveler or the merely curious.

When reading this book I was really surprised by its accuracy and liveliness. The author succeeds in putting everything I would like to tell my non-Belgian friends in an extremely readable book (I finished it in one night). The point of view of the author is unique in the sense that he is a foreigner (British) but is married to a Belgian and has been living there long enough to know the small things of life. I would recommend this book to anybody remotely interested in Belgium. For those that are not, I can assure you that your interest will be certainly piqued by reading this book. For me this book is a great gift for a friend interested in my country.

As Belgian myself it was funny read this book which is humorous but too much accurate about many things that we know is true in our people but surprised to read in a book!
Book is a very nice introduction to my country for people coming to live here and know about, but don't worry - not all the drivers are so bad and dangerous!

Mark Elliott has written a very entertaining - and if my Belgian friends are to be believed - accurate account of Belgian culture. Not a classic guidebook with lists of places to visit and restaurants to patronize, this book truly lives up to its title. The book contains a great deal of humor which makes the Belgians come alive for the reader. The book has definitely made me put Belgium on my list of places I wish to visit.

Last summer I went to Switzerland with my girlfriend. She had this book with her. It was great! It helped us to see interesting places, find affordable hotels, good restaurant. I recommend this book to anyone who is planning on going to Switzerland.

This was by far the most helpful resource that I took to Switzerland--extremely detailed, logically organized, and quite accurate. Walking in Switzerland was extremely helpful in its well-written trail and regional descriptions as well as precise information on surrounding logistics. A must for anybody who intends to hike (seriously or casually) in the region. At the risk of gushing overmuch, this is quite possibly the most useful travel guide I've ever bought.

It took us to places that the locals thought were not available without local knowledge. I highly recommend this book. Please e-mail me with your comments

The Dutch revolt is a pivotal event in European history that remains blurry and poorly understood by most people. Mr. Parker does an excellent job of clearly explaining the sequence of events as well as their context. A very readable style and a refreshingly objective perspective carry the story with just the right level of detail for the interested reader. I am very happy to have read this book and recommend it warmly to anybody interested in history.

This is the best history ever written about the Dutch Revolt - a series of upheavals from 1568 to 1648 - which led to the independent United Provinces. This was Europes first republic which survived until the French Revolution.

This mini guide was an EXCELLENT companion on our recent Rome excursion. The top 25 sites section was particularly useful in determining what to see during our stay. Each of the 25 sites noted in the guide included a train/bus number reference and that was most helpful. Many travel guides do not include such info. You'll never miss with the Citypacks!

Without fanfare, this book has been more than helpful. From spendthrift to affluence ...it lets me call the shots. Insightful reviews guide my trip of a lifetime ...and I need help. The logistical insights of important connection to the ancient while nurturing tourism avoidance within all possible bounds has been accomplished.

The best books regarding the history of medieval Flanders are written in English ( David Nicholas and Patricia Carson ). But this one is the summum.

this book is a treasure trove of information. Details about politics, daily life, social mores, everything is in here somewhere, and even better it's backed up by quotes from medival sources. Nicholas is a fine scholar who presents a mountain of data in an intelligent and engaging manner.

I've watched Rick Steves on TV and enjoyed his rather unique take on travel. We were traveling to the low countries and I decided to give his book a try. All the resturants recommended were good. Hotels were also good and we even got a discount when we mentioned that we found one of the hotels in his book to the desk clerk.

Historical landmarks were even more interesting with all the written history on the sites. We had no intention on visiting Bruges but were very glad we did once we started reading the book. Bruges turned out to be better than Brussels and on par or better than Amsterdam. I'd visit Bruges again before I visited Venice, Barcelona, Munich, or Salzburg. Glad this book steered us in that direction.

Maps and day schedules were also very helpful. I give it 5 out of 5 stars and I don't give 5 stars unless well deserved.

My friends and I just returned from 6 days in Amsterdam with a day trip to Bruges. We took along several travel guides but this book was the one we ended up using again and again. It clearly lists the top attractions and how to get the most from them. We especially liked the museum tours and self-guided walking tours. The maps are great and easy to use. Tips on negotiating the train system were very helpful. The restaurant choices were also very good. We stayed at the Hotel Hestia in Amsterdam and loved it (great location, reasonable price, friendly staff). Be sure to also pick up a free copy of "Boom Chicago's Guide to Amsterdam" when you get into town for a humorous look at the Dutch Culture and a discount offer on a hilarious comedy show.

This book provides excellent detail for an great car trip in France. His recommendation to stay in the Rue Cler area of Paris was perfect. I also enjoyed the many small villages that were suggested.

The French are wonderful...all you need is this book and two weeks off!

We used this guide last year on a trip through France, Belgium and the Netherlands and found it to be indispensable. Since this was our first trip to Europe, we were very nervous about making train and hotel reservations on our own. Rick's book made it a breeze. It was also very accurate on hotel and restaurant prices. Overall the book made our trip much more enjoyable and I have recommended it to a number of people.

This is a great book for people who are moving to Holland as it provides detailed information on living, and touring, here. It is organized by provinces, and gives clear information on how to get to sites and events. An updated edition fills in with new info and events.

Easy to read book outlined by provinces within the country. Chock full of museums,sites, useful transportation information and a calendar of yearly special events. Within the provinces is a detailed account of important cities and what to see. There's even a section devoted to Living in Holland. I own the 1989 edition and hopefully the reprint will correct any opening times, admission prices or telephone numbers. That said, well worth the money, as is.

In the last decade of the 16th and first decades of the 17th centuries, Spanish and Portuguese Conversos leave their homelands and come to Amsterdam seeking what author Miriam Bodian calls rejudaization, or what we, today, call conversion as a requirement for full participation in community life and benefits derived by being part of rabbinic Judaism. Affluent, educated, and willing to learn rabbinic Judaism, these Conversos are seeking to learn and to establish Jewish rituals and worship. For example, ex-Conversos seek religious aid from Uri Halevi, an Ashkenazi rabbi from Emden who establishs what is probably the first synagogue in Amsterdam in 1595. When Halevi starts circumcising Conversos, the Dutch authorities arrest him and charge him with circumcising adults who are presumably Conversos. However, Halevi is released and allowed to continue working with the Iberian ex-Conversos and with his help they are able to establish their own rituals by 1603. One of the early Conversos who arrives in Holland is Isaac Pinto. He is overjoyed at having been given the opportunity to practice Judaism, the religion of his Iberian ancestors. Pinto not only learns Judaism, he studies Hebrew and established a synagogue, which he finances in its entirety during his lifetime. Although few of the ex-Conversos have the financial means that Pinto had, they actively participate in the Jewish community life of Amsterdam. However, as the 17th century starts passing, a new type of Converso who views Judaism as a practical necessity begin arriving in Amsterdam. Often times, this group of Conversos wanted to participate in the life of the synagogue and receive the benefits derived from being part of the Jewish community, but had no desire to undergo circumcision. There are examples of uncircumcised Conversos who died in Amsterdam and their families wanted to bury them in the Jewish cemetery of Ouderkerk. The Mahamad (see definition) ruled that the dead Conversos had to be circumcised before they could be buried in Ouderkerk. "Denial of the right of burial [in the Jewish cemetery] was used by the Mahamad in Amsterdam, if not to encourage circumcision, to pressure a few of the émigrés to undergo formal conversion to Judaism. These were persons who unquestionably belonged to the 'Nation' but, because of known female old Christian ancestors on their mother's side, were not Jewish according to rabbinical law, which held that Jewishness was transmitted through the mother". The Amsterdam Jewish community was very careful not to upset Spain or Portugal by actively promoting Judaism or openly protecting crypto-Jews on Spanish or Portuguese soil. This was because Amsterdam's ex-Conversos were heavily engaged in commerce as ship owners, diamond and spice traders, and many other activities related to commerce with the Spanish and Portuguese empires. Although the Amsterdam Jewish community probably did not openly help Crypto-Jews in Iberia, there is evidence that some of the many prayer books that were printed in Spanish and Portuguese in Amsterdam were sent to Spain and Portugal or their overseas possessions (Bodian page 199). The Amsterdam ex-Conversos strongly encouraged their friends and relatives in the Iberian Peninsula to leave before the Inquisition find them. The following exerts from letters written by the ex-Converso Abraham Idaña (Gaspar Mendez del Arroyo) to Conversos in Iberia illustrate the feelings of Amsterdam Jews in 1686: "The notion of serving God in one's heart, it is not enough. The law of Moses was given in order to be observed. It is a particularly grave sin to remain uncircumcised. One must flee to lands of freedom and be circumcised without delay. Nor should one delude oneself that good deeds can compensate for failure to observe the Law". The ex-Converso community in Amsterdam was always ready to help newly arrived Conversos who needed help to return to Judaism. If the community could not help the newly arrived Conversos in Amsterdam, the community would aid the new comers to find passage to the Ottoman empire, Italy, or even to the New World where more freedom could be found than in the Iberian Peninsula. Once the ex-Converso community established rabbinic Judaism they began observing Jewish precepts and prohibitions, developed over many centuries, which regulated and restricted relations between Jews and Gentiles. Regardless of this, there is evidence that some ex-Conversos men took lower-class gentile women, often maidservants, as mistresses. From 1600-1623, notarial records reveal instances of sexual relations between Portuguese Jews and gentile women (most of them were Dutch or Scandinavian). Even though it was illegal to have sexual relations between Jews and gentiles under Jewish and Dutch law, few of the ex-Conversos or their mistresses were prosecuted. Bodian tells us that to a degree the fathers of the illegitimate children provided for their support and that a group of fifteen Amsterdam Jewish merchants established a society called Dotar for the purpose of providing a dowry to orphans and poor girls descendants of the Portuguese Nation or Castilian Conversos. It is conceivable that many of the illegitimate daughters of ex-Conversos were eligible and obtained dowry to marry Jews. Eligibility to obtain a dowry was not only for Amsterdam's girls, but it was extended to girls who lived in the Iberian Peninsula, or other parts of Europe, the Ottoman empire, and the New World. Candidates had to prove eligibility by demonstrating that they were descendants of Conversos through either their paternal or maternal line. In order to find suitable candidates for dowries, the Amsterdam ex-Converso community established an elaborated network in many countries. It is possible that the dowry network extended its activity beyond determining eligibility for dowry. The Amsterdam ex-Converso community gained knowledge of rabbinic Judaism rapidly and by the 1630s they had produced their own rabbis and scholars, such as Menasseh ben Israel and Isaac Aboab da Fonseca. The community not only produced brilliant Jewish scholars but as a whole was very active in religious activity and its knowledge of Jewish traditions was adequate, if not brilliant (Bodian page 110). The ex-Converso community learned because of its perseverance to acieve rejudaization.

A Missing Link Discovered

Certainly, any true history such as that written by Miriam Bodian is worthy of much more than five stars. . Professor Bodian chooses not the former when she describes and clearly illustrates the fact that the Ashkenazim (German “Jewry”) were not accepted by The Nation…the “Hebrew Nation”…Iberian Jewry. .... This book is highly recommended for all those of the Hebrew Nation, and for the Ashkenazim, or for anyone interested in Jewry. I also highly recommend it for Christians who would like to establish a sound base insofar as understanding what REALLY went on just before and during the periods when “Jews” started coming to the Americas. Few understand that the first synagogue in New Amsterdam (NYC) was of the Iberian peoples’, the Ashkenazim not arriving till wayyyy late in the game. Professor Bodian’s book, within my Hebrew National Community is about the best thing since apple pie…or shall I say, “empanadas de manzana.” It’s highly recommended for ALL.

Sincerely,

Daniel Enriquez David

This is a highly academic work of Miriam Bodian, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University. With in-depth research, the author analyses a unique chapter in the history of Judaism: the return of Iberian "conversos" to rabbinical religion and the establishment of the Jewish community in Amsterdam. A remarkable account of the strength and perseverance of a "nation" which clings to its roots despite all adversities. This is cultural "Darwinism..."