Henri van der Zee (1934–2013)

In the late 1690s, the recently widowed and much bereaved King William III consoled himself by spending a lot of time in Newmarket, at the races where one the favorite horses that he ran was named "Stiff Dick."

Sometimes a single historical detail can illuminate an era.

I guess historians will never know for certain if King William III ever "got it on" with his young handsome favorite Keppel/the Earl of Albemarle. Rumors were extensive at the time - and no less an "expert" than the King's cousin "Liselotte" - the Duchess of Orleans at the French court, married to the flamingly gay "Monsiuer" - believed them. Just as in the case with William's great-grandfather King James VI & I with Villiers/the Duke of Buckingham, we don't have the testimony of the bedsheets. Personally, I think William III is a much more sympathetic figure than James. And I hope that whatever the King needed from his protege, he received in abundance. There clearly seems to have been a deep love there.… (mer)

I picked up this book when another book I was reading kept referencing it. I had heard the title mentioned before, but had dismissed it as not being anything of any consequence. I requested the book from interlibrary loan and before I started reading, I was still baffled as to what a fashion editor and her titled husband might have to contribute to our recollection and understanding of this almost-forgotten time period in American history. As it turns out, they have written the "must have" book on this amazing time, a book that I will have to find to add to my personal collection.
It never fails to amaze me that people are not curious about the beginnings of a major city in the world; I confess I am also interested in the beginnings of Paris, Rome, London and many other cities. It never fails to baffle me as to how residents living within a few miles of these great historical events know so little about them. Even today, 400 years later, the entire world still uses the Dutch financial system (stock market and currency) put in place on the tip of this tiny island outpost. Many Americans still believe that the Mayflower came and then suddenly there were thousands of English people who appeared out of nowhere and started a revolution. OK, so they are missing 150 years of American history - maybe I should take issue with our educational system more than individuals. I always say the American Revolution is actually closer to the MIDPOINT so far of our American history. But back to the book:

Henri Van Der Zee (who unfortuanately died just this past year) demonstrates why he deserved the award given to him in recognition of his journalistic career. He has pieced together the records and correspondence that illuminates and shows the progression to the inevitable outcome, chronicling the changes in the populations living in the vicinity of New Amsterdam (present day New York City) and the individuals and their personal changes. History is almost always written by the victors and this unique point of view, from the Dutch records with collaboration from his British wife, the two parties involved in this chapter of history, explodes old myths by showing us the actual correspondence, not hand-feeding us opinion and asking us to accept it because it appears in print. Americans have always been told that Peter Stuyvesant was so hated by his fellow New Netherlanders that the British forces were able to come in and just take the colony without a fight. I found the last few chapters hugely enlightening, proving that Stuyvesant loved the land, was learning to be a good leader, and wanted to put up a fight, that he was decieved by those he trusted as allies and let down again and again, left to dangle in the wind, by the Company in the Netherlands that he had to depend upon for survival. The loss of New Amsterdam in fact started as a legal barrage of claims and escalated to brandishing arms; this was a fact I did not know before I read this book. I found a couple of factual errors that are not worth mentioning because they are not critical to the story. They are mostly details that only American historians would note anyway. This does not in any way detract from the value of this amazing book, interesting to read, invaluable to historians and history lovers alike. It is a study in bad management and mismanagement. Business students will find too many eerie similarities to current business models. Foreign diplomats as well will find gems in there as to how not to deal with crises dealing with Native populations and local government. It is a chronicle of the fall of a civilization as well as a "whodunnit?". The story is very interesting and very good reading. Luckily the Van Der Zees have someone left to continue the family tradition: A beautiful obituary was written for her father by their daughter, Bibi van der Zee, in The Guardian. Give this serial of not-so-current events by a terrific pair of journalists a try . It kept me reading until the end.… (mer)