An illustrated History of Amsterdam

'An unusual capital'

Every year, more than 17 million tourists from all over the world visit Amsterdam: to board the boats traversing the town's fabled canals; to gaze at the stately, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century mansions lining them; to buy and experience the thrill of the cheap and almost-legal weed in the so-called 'coffee-shops'; to stroll along the few, quaint streets that constitute the inner-city's 'red-light' district and gape at the windows wherein, in the shadow of a great medieval church, prostitutes present themselves to their eager eyes. They also want to see Rembrandt's "Night Watch", and Van Gogh's paintings, on show in the town's great museums. Yes, Amsterdam is famous all over the five continents: a metropolis that has retained much of its 'pre-modern' scale and charm. It encapsulates much that is specific to Dutch culture and society: its small scale, its obviously bourgeois character, and its tolerance, whether superficial or not.

This book means to sketch the variegated history of Amsterdam from its humble beginnings in the 'Low Countries' as a small, thirteenth-century transit port to its many (inter-)national present roles, both economic and cultural.

Each of the ten chapters addresses three main topics: the economic development of the town, its demographic and social background and its changing urban lay-out; its political history, both internal and external, i.e. within the national and international context; and its cultural structures and most salient (institutional) features and protagonists.

Based on the latest scholarly research, the book yet is accesible, also because the many illustrations have been specifically selected to serve as visual extensions of the text, to allow the reader to reach a deeper understanding of this fascinating city.