Amsterdam: Exploring the Fascinating History of the World's Most Liberal City

Sanjukta: I loved loved loved this book. It's a must read for any expat living in the Netherlands. I understood a lot about the why and how of the Dutch culture through this book and it's just so interesting to read. I might have paused a few times after reading a line to soak it in or re-read para over and over again :)

Netherlands on Nov 21, 2023

kathowl: I needed this book to put my visit in perspective and context-perfect!

United States on Jun 19, 2023

Pedro López: This book is about the History of Amsterdam the city, which is very interesting as the city is very unique in many ways, and as the author explains, it has been very influential to the history and culture of the rest of the world from the sixteenth century onwards, I found it so entertaining I had to put aside other books I was reading.
It’s not a textbook type of history book, the author weaves in some of his own experiences living in the city, and of people he met while researching, which are also interesting.
This book can be a good reference before visiting the city or a good way to understand the city more after visiting it.
I bough this book in kindle format in the Little Brown Book group edition, I liked it so much I gave a paperback copy as a present but in the Vintage edition, which I found out, included a good deal of illustrations and photographs that weren’t on the Little Brown kindle edition, it was ok, it’s still a good read with no illustrations, I was always using the maps app to check locations, it was also cheaper, I don’t know if the Vintage kindle edition includes the illustrations.

Mexico on May 28, 2023

Angelo Antonio: I loved this book. It’s an excellently written book that tells the story of Amsterdam, one of Europe’s most important cities. While the author covers Dutch economics, colonialism, and Amsterdam he also tell a story of Dutch people, how they worked together as as a community to build the early dams and handle the German invasion during WWII. I highly recommend this book.

United States on Mar 24, 2023

Andy McKinney: Mr. Shorto knows his city. He also has the ability to bring that city to life for us. Amsterdam has many odd, unique, and quirky things about it that make it what it is today. Shorto has dug into the substrata of the town to find just those interesting things that define the metropolis. He has lots of little and not so little details about the history of the place that makes it come to life for us. We imagine that we have an understanding of the soul of the city, that we can appreciate her, and why she is as she is today.
I read this book on the basis of how much I enjoyed and benefited from his book on New York. I was not disappointed.
Recommended for lovers of the written word.

United States on May 03, 2020

BB: I bought this (Kindle version) to take with me on a trip to Amsterdam - my first visit. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's very well written and quite quirky (in a good way). I wish I'd read it before I went as I could have added lots of things to my list of things to look out for on my trip. Other than learning about 'poulders' at school 50 years ago, I am ashamed to say I knew nothing about Amsterdam. The author of this book makes the history come alive, a bit of a cliche I know but it is so outstandingly well written with numerous amazing facts about the city, how it was built and who built it and why. I don't know if the author has written anything else but if not he should! The level of detail is extraordinary and it's so readable. I haven't quite finished it yet but as soon as I have I'm going to read it again! And book my next trip! Well done that man! Since writing the above I've discovered the author has indeed written several other books. I've just bought three of them to read on my trusty Kindle! (I prefer proper books to Kindle books but my Kindle is useful for reading in bed last thing at night and on the train etc.) I want to read this book again so I will...

United Kingdom on Feb 14, 2019

Patrick Sullivan: This book went way beyond, any and all expectations. The emerging city throws off the yoke, of a foreign despot and the evil Catholic Church. Amsterdam becomes a model libertarian or classic liberal city. The civic model is based on; the rule of law, low flat taxes, open immigration, private property rights, freedom of religion, self-government, and a strong emphasis on individual rights. In other words, Amsterdam exercised a policy of laissez-faire capitalism. This combination allows the city to boom economically. A large middle class emerges in Amsterdam, along with many wealthy business owners. Shorto outlines the story of Amsterdam`s rise to greatness.

Shorto has a talent for turning history, into an exciting read. The first few pages started off slowly. But if you stick with it, the reader will be rewarded. On the slightly negative side. Shorto downplays the problems of the current welfare democratic system, that is being practiced in Amsterdam. Today`s liberalism/socialism is drastically different, from the original classic liberal model.

This book is highly recommended. I hope one day, to make a return visit to The Netherlands. The Dutch people and touring the...

Canada on Dec 13, 2017

Peter Berlin: If you only know Amsterdam as a tourist city and finally want to learn more about how this city became what it is today, this the perfet book for you. I was quite impressed by the amazing depth of the detailed informationen and the profound insights into the city`s history – how it it shaped itself and in a way how it shaped the world we are living in.

All objective history is subejective – and it has to be written well. Historian Shorto spent several years of his life in Amsterdam – which probably made him him curious about its development. Itis written in very reader-friendly style, including personal information that highlights history. I was actually reading it while on a one-week-vacation in Amsterdam and this book was the perfect companion for my stay. It explained so much of what I saw and experienced every day around me.

I finally got to understand the reason why the Dutch are so determined to succeed in business, why roayalty nevery played such a decisive role compared to other European countries, how they succeeded in turning a boggy strip of land into a world power that ruled the world and amassed lots of riches for a whole century during the Golden...

Germany on Mar 04, 2016

Joseph Amiel: Russell Shorto's study of the fascinating past and present-day history of the Dutch city of Amsterdam explains much about the live-and-let-live attitude that pervades its society. Having finished reading the book while on a short vacation in that city, I was able to understand the city in a way that I certainly wouldn't have otherwise. Shorto was living in the city during the period he was writing the book and some of it is taken up with material garnered from many interviews with a woman German concentration camp survivor who was a good friend of Anne Frank and reconnected when both were sent to the sick ward there. She and her mother survived the horrific march that the guards initiated in the very last days of the war by dropping from illness and fatigue, but Anne did not. Also examined is the role that the exommunicated Jewish philopsher Bernard Spinoza played in lighting the fire that eventually became the Enlightenment, a separation of religion-based and natural-world-based thinking, and how that lit a fire of political liberal thinking in Amsterdam. Much is made, too, of the city's 17th century hey-day and how William of Orange came to power that eventually resulted in his...

United States on Jan 08, 2014

Greg Polansky: Having fallen in love with Russel Shorto's 'The Island at the Center of the World', and greatly enjoying his articles in the NYT, I was eagerly anticipating this book. And I was not disappointed.

In this relatively short history, Shorto weaves his own personal experiences of Amsterdam with the history of the city. In particular, as he shows how Liberalism (note the capital L here: this is Liberalism in the classic sense - personal freedom, economic freedom, individual freedoms and individual rights, etc - not in the American political spectrum sense) defined the city he convincingly relays how the city's unique geography allowed Liberalism to grow and thrive. In particular, the concept of 'gedogen' - hard to translate, but sort of like toleration of what is illegal by not enforcing laws against something - seems to have defined the city of Amsterdam from early on.

Beginning with the miracle of the wafer, Amsterdam grew from such humble beginning. Yes, around a wafer. But hey, it was a different century and rather than tourists flocking to museums, they instead flocked to religious items. So why not a wafer? Shorto then shows how fishing and shipping enriched the city...

United States on Dec 17, 2013