Non Travel Books on Amsterdam
 

I am looking for the names of several good books on the history, culture, people of Amsterdam/Netherlands. Any suggested readings will be greatly appreciated.

Tom

Here are some from my book shelf:

"Tulipomania" by Mike Dash.

"The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom.

"The UnDutchables" by Colin White & Laurie Boucke.

"Through the Gates of the Netherlands" by Mary E. Waller.

"The Land of Dykes and Windmills" by Frederick Spencer Bird.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Diary of Anne Frank

Girl in Hyacinth Blue

All by Simon Schama:

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands, 1780 - 1813

Rembrandt's Eyes

The Coffee Trader by David Liss

http://tinyurl.com/ymewg3

Excellent historical fiction. I enjoyed the book, despite the fact that I disliked all the major characters!

Thanks to everyone giving me a list of books to review. Two of the books are on the way (good ol' Amazon) and one is already on our book shelf -- read by both of us.

While "Diary of Anne Frank" is poignant, it has little to do with Dutch culture. I have read it and several books about her.

Anne was a German. Her father moved the family and his business from Frankfurt to Amsterdam in the 1930's to escape the Nazis. The German Wehrmacht suddenly came marching over the border in May 1940 and had them along with the whole country in five days, except for the royals and top politicians who escaped to England.

For an in-depth essay on the period and the suffering that everyone in Holland endured I recommend "The Hiding Place." Corrie ten Boom was Christian. Her family placed themselves in harm's way to save many Jews, Dutch Resistance fighters, and Allied fliers who were shot down over Holland.

On the day the Gestapo came for the arrest the ten Booms were hiding a small group of Jews in their secret room. Corrie was the only one of the family who survived the death camps. Her account of those times will tear your heart out. Ironically, the Jews in the ten Boom's hiding place that day were not found and escaped.