An Economic and Social History of the Netherlands, 1800ÔÇô1920: Demographic, Economic and Social Transition
Cambridge University Press, 9/21/2000
EAN 9780521782951, ISBN10: 0521782953
Hardcover, 416 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm
Language: English
An Economic and Social History of the Netherlands, 1800–1920 provides a comprehensive account of Dutch history from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century, examining population and health, the economy, and socio-political history. The Dutch experience in this period is fascinating and instructive: the country saw extremely rapid population growth, awesome death rates, staggering fertility, some of the fastest economic growth in the world, a uniquely large and efficient service sector, a vast and profitable overseas empire, characteristic 'pillarization', and relative tolerance. Michael Wintle also examines the lives of ordinary people: what they ate, how much they earned, what they thought about public affairs, and how they wooed and wed. This book will be of central importance to Dutch specialists, as well as European historians more generally.
List of plates
List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
General introduction
Part I. Demography and the Health of the Nation
1. Demographic indicators
2. The condition of the people
public health, diet and nutrition
Part II. Economic Transition
Introduction
3. Economic performance and industrialization
the Dutch debate
4. Factor inputs
labour, capital, materials
5. Economic influences
entrepreneurship, technology and government policy
6. Sectoral analysis
7. Features of demand
8. Economic transition
conclusion
Part III. Social Transition
State, Society, Individual and Nation
Introduction
9. Authority and representation
the citizen and the state
10. Education and welfare
empowerment and protection
11. Loyal subjects
state formation and nation formation
12. Social groups
General conclusion
Bibliography
Index.
‘Michael Wintle's 'splendid and thought-provoking synthesis' will undoubtedly attain … canonical status.’ Martine van Ittersum, Business History Review
‘… stands out above all comparable work.’ (trans.) Maarten Duijvendak, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis
‘… this book admirably meets the urgent demand for a single narrative of the socio-economic history of the Netherlands in the nineteenth century and as such represents an extraordinary feat.’ Wim Mellaerts, Dutch Crossing
‘… an important work of revisionist scholarship … Wintle’s book should go a long way toward returning the ‘disappeared’ nineteenth-century Netherlands to the annals of history.’ Business History
‘… this book meets the urgent demand for a single narrative of the socio-economic history of the Netherlands in the ‘long’ nineteenth century.’ History
‘… a work of reference in English on Dutch economic and social history from the Napoleonic wars to World War II … Wintle’s book is lucidly written. It supplies the reader with the relevant information and references in a succinct manner. And Wintle aptly demonstrates his mastery of the literature and the published statistics. Yes, this is the book I needed.‘ International Review of Social History