Download Why the Dutch are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands, by Ben Coates
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Why the Dutch are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands, by Ben Coates
Download Why the Dutch are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands, by Ben Coates
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*A SCOTSMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR* Stranded at Schiphol airport, Ben Coates called up a friendly Dutch girl he'd met some months earlier. He stayed for dinner. Actually, he stayed for good. In the first book to consider the hidden heart and history of the Netherlands from a modern perspective, the author explores the length and breadth of his adopted homeland and discovers why one of the world's smallest countries is also so significant and so fascinating. It is a self-made country, the Dutch national character shaped by the ongoing battle to keep the water out from the love of dairy and beer to the attitude to nature and the famous tolerance. Ben Coates investigates what makes the Dutch the Dutch, why the Netherlands is much more than Holland and why the colour orange is so important. Along the way he reveals why they are the world's tallest people and have the best carnival outside Brazil. He learns why Amsterdam's brothels are going out of business, who really killed Anne Frank, and how the Dutch manage to be richer than almost everyone else despite working far less. He also discovers a country which is changing fast, with the Dutch now questioning many of the liberal policies which made their nation famous. A personal portrait of a fascinating people, a sideways history and an entertaining travelogue, Why the Dutch are Different is the story of an Englishman who went Dutch. And loved it.
- Sales Rank: #342518 in eBooks
- Published on: 2015-09-24
- Released on: 2015-09-24
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
A Scotsman Travel Book of the Year. In Why the Dutch are Different, a torch beam of scrutiny plays across the country's past and its lesser known foibles. Author Ben Coates has produced an insightful gem.―The Scotsman
A book as quietly appealing as its subject and full of fascinating details. Coates is entirely convincing in his affectionate portrait.--Bronwen Maddox―Prospect
Vivid and informative. Coates intertwines the nation's journey to its modern iteration with his own adaptation to the Dutch lifestyle. An accomplished debut.
―Geographical
I thoroughly recommend this book. Why the Dutch are Different provides the answers to all the questions I had but didn't dare ask about the Netherlands. I eagerly sat up late into the night reading, laughing often and enjoying the ride into my adopted homeland.
―DutchNews
Fascinating. Thoroughly researched and well thought out, Why the Dutch are Different takes us on a journey that goes beyond red-lit windows and Anne Frank to the true depths of the country. Ben Coates's day-to-day life sits effortlessly alongside deeper dives into history and folklore. A friendly read that strikes the right balance between teaching and entertaining.―The Bookbag
One of the few books on our near-neighbour, Coates gets under the skin of a nation renowned for its liberalism.―The Bookseller
About the Author
After completing a master's degree in economics, Ben Coates has worked as a political adviser, corporate speechwriter, lobbyist and aid worker. He now works for an international charity and lives with his Dutch wife in Rotterdam.
Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
The only point that I found pretty unfair were his comments on food
By Regina St.Savinien
As a Dutch national but having lived abroad for nearly 30 years (4 of which in London) it was very interesting to read a foreigners take on the Netherlands (NOT Holland, that is only a part of it as the writer points out correctly:-)). Especially the historic background is helping to understand the cultural patchwork the Netherlands have been in the past, and still today. But, I did miss the analysis of why the Dutch are so egalitarian, partly caused by the continuous fight against the sea but also by the fact that the Netherlands was a Republic and largely lacked the hierarchy which was omnipresent in other European countries. Moreover, it was the Republic that ruled the world for about 150 years and royalty was reluctantly accepted. You will never in your life hear the Dutch saying Queen Wilheminian or Queen Julianian times...
The only point that I found pretty unfair were his comments on food. With some 160 Michelin star restaurants, of which twenty 2-star and two 3-star restaurants the Netherlands has a three times higher number of Michelin star restaurants per head of population than the UK; and even street food... not sure with whom Mr. Coates mixed, but I personally was brought up with the healthiest and tastiest kitchens in the world... and so were my friends.. maybe the street food is for tourists ??
All in all, I have a great deal of respect for writers like Mr Ben Coates and Russell Shorto; they make such good analysis of the people who largely created their own land and hence culture, although bold from time to time... we do admit.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
like a favorite high school teacher
By SkyeMacInnes
Recently I finished Bill Bryson’s latest travel book, “Notes from Little Dribbling”. While my much beloved author writes in his usual educational style, like a favorite high school teacher, dear Bill is becoming a bit grumpier in his waning years largely due to the fact that it will never be 1957 again and that his three-year old grandchildren can work a computer better than he can. So as I had just decided that this latest work of his would have been more aptly titled “Bill Bryson’s Great Big Book of Bitching”, along comes Ben Coates’ “Why the Dutch are Different”.
What a wonderful read. Intelligent and jaunty, Coates writes a spot-on description of life as an expat in the Netherlands. Braiding together his personal experiences with history, he presents a though-provoking interpretation of how individuals and events over a vast sweep of time make the Dutch who they are. It’s as if my wish that Bryson would cheer up and write a book about the Netherlands had been granted.
Coates parties at carnival, gazes at antiquities on Museumnacht, sails down the Maas, sings at a war remembrance ceremony, attends a demonstration, and solemnly visits the staging camp for Auschwitz as the backdrop of the book. Then selecting the most influential events and characters that over a vast sweep of time shaped Dutch society, he presents a chronicle of the Netherlands that is comprehensive without being tedious. This is something of a feat for a 287-page book.
As an expat living in the Netherlands myself, some of Coates’ personal experiences made me sigh with delight and recognition. Some of his conclusions were similar to those I had drawn myself over the years about why the Dutch behave the way they do, how the mentality of “You can do what you want to do, as long as you do it our way” ultimately came about (answer = it’s crowded). Other bits literally made me tear up, such as his paragraph describing the liberation of the Netherlands from the Germans in Word War II (which I was reading, strangely enough, while standing in line to board a flight to Munich). And it’s funny. Brilliantly funny. There may the unfortunate repetition of some phrases, such as “…wobbling home after too many Heinekens…”, however in his defense I suppose this was likely to have occurred more than once.
In reading the other posts here, I would like to respond to comment of the reviewer who thinks Coates is unkind to the food. I would suggest that it’s not so much the quality of the food here…the cheese is great, the salmon’s fresh, and every time a guest comes from abroad I drag them to an Indonesian restaurant and they never want to leave. But there is something of a lack of selection. All the sandwiches are cheese, all the fish is salmon. And the supermarkets are the same size as the local post office. As an American who is used to megamarts where you’re barely able to see the end of an aisle and can choose from more than 250 different boxes of breakfast cereal, this can come as something of a shock. But then, here’s what I love more: walking down my block and buying cheese at the kaaserie, a fresh slab of salmon from the fish shop, fruit from the Turkish market and then going across the street and picking up my shoes from the cobbler. These daily excursions and little local communities are unheard of in my sprawling, car-obsessed homeland.
In sum, I laughed, I cried, I got down on my knees and thanked my stars I live here in this unique and wonderful country.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Quite interesting
By Liorah
For this former Dutch national there were lots of changes. Especially in how the Dutch society has become more weary about the goings on. To me the fuss about Zwarte Piet, a traditional and fantasy character is amazing. I never saw him as a lowly slave but an assistant who happened to be a Moor.
The drug scene seems to be out of control, which I have noted on my yearly trips back to the country.
Also tolerance of different nationalities and religions is no longer.
I belief this book is accurate enough to get a real feel of what the country is today.
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