Could you recommend a book(s) on life, economy and culture in the Netherlands during the Golden Age?

by sojorn
TheFairyGuineaPig

I would recommend Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (J Leslie Price) alongside an Embarrassment of Riches- which is the main, go to book on the Golden Age but annoyingly misses out on the critical role slavery played in the Dutch economy at the time. Also by J.Leslie Price, I would recommend the essay Culture and Society in the Dutch Republic in the 17th Century, now dated, to go with 1650:Hard-won Unity, by Frijhoff and Spies, Calvinism and a Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age and, for a Catholic's perspective on life at the time, Faith on the Margins: Catholics and Catholicism in the Dutch Golden Age by Charles Parker, also, Sex and Drugs Before Rock 'n' Roll: Youth Culture and Masculinity During Holland's Golden Age (Amsterdam Studies in the Dutch Golden Age) by Benjamin B.Roberts. The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century: The Golden Age, by Maarten Prak, is a bit light but is very readable, more of an introductory book imo. Finally, I'd recommend buying Art and Commerce in the Dutch Golden Age, by Michael North.

And for a fun (but useful) read, Humour in Dutch Culture of the Golden Age, by Dr Rudolf Dekker is fantastic.