Publisher's Synopsis
This account of the two centuries of Dutch domination in world trade uses archival material to explain how the Dutch Republic, despite its small size and population, functioned as the hub of world shipping and finance and was able to exert its ascendancy for so long. It examines the mechanisms by which this was achieved and sustained, and the stages of its evolution.;Particular emphasis is placed on the interaction between Dutch commercial activity in Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East and Dutch penetration of nearby European markets.;Jonathan Israel has also written "The Dutch Republic and the Hispanic World, 1606-1661" and "European Jewry in the Age of Mercantilism, 1550-1750", which was joint winner of the Wolfson Literary Award for History.
