''The Embarrassment of Riches: an interpretation of Dutch culture in the Golden Age'' is a book by historian

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He fir ...

published in 1987.

Summary

The book covers an overview of the political and socio-cultural aspects of the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

, Schama depicts themes of Dutch morality and the household economy. He details the Dutch's newfound wealth and conspicuous consumption, while trying to match the restraints of Calvinist philosophy and shame. Schama writes a quasi-anthropological study by utilizing the material culture such as the arts, engravings, illustrated books,

delftware Delftware or Delft pottery, also known as Delft Blue ( nl, Delfts blauw) or as delf, is a general term now used for Dutch tin-glazed earthenware, a form of faience. Most of it is blue and white pottery, and the city of Delft in the Netherland ...

and bric-a-brac. He goes on to delve into the culture of smoking, family morality and their excessive penchant with cleaning. The book details on what gave rise to their sense of community, allegiance and manners. The examination of the Dutch experience as a peculiar people with a manifest destiny saved from the horrors of the

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

and the war with the Spanish is much analyzed, seeing their people similar to the reincarnated

children of Israel The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

who had entered a new

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

. To save themselves from the flood, they did this by reclaiming land with dykes and pumping windmills and from this, emerge their communalist ethics.

Criticism

Susan Buck-Morss Susan Buck-Morss is an American philosopher and intellectual historian. She is currently Professor of Political Science at the CUNY Graduate Center, and professor emeritus in the Government Department at Cornell University, where she taught from ...

criticizes Schama for his "selective national history" of the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

, "that omits much or all of the colonizing story." "One would have no idea that Dutch hegemony in the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

—replacing Spain and Portugal as major players—contributed substantially to the enormous overload of wealth that he describes as becoming so socially and morally problematic during the century of Dutch centrality to the "commerce of the world."

Herman Pleij Herman Pleij (born 1943) is a professor emeritus of Medieval Dutch literature at the University of Amsterdam. He was appointed professor in 1981 and taught until February 2008. Career In 1979 he completed his thesis on De Blauwe Schuit, amo ...

, a professor of

Medieval Dutch literature Middle Dutch literature (1150–1500) is the Dutch literature produced in the Low Countries from the 12th century to the 16th century. It is preceded by only a few fragmentary texts existing in Old Dutch, and it was succeeded by Dutch Renaissan ...

wrote ''The Dutch Embarrassment'' in response.

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Embarrassment of Riches 1987 non-fiction books 20th-century history books Books by Simon Schama History books about the Dutch Golden Age History books about the Netherlands