The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Volume 31: 1580-82

Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.2

Word count: 136K words
Chapters: 14

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Volume 31: 1580-82 by John Lothrop MotleyAuthor: Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877,Language: English, Class: DH: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

This is Volume 31 of Motley's multi-volume The Rise of the Dutch Republic, covering the pivotal years 1580–1582. Writing as a narrative historian, Motley treats the political maneuvering and military conflict of the Dutch War of Independence, with densely arranged sources and character portraits marked by strong moral judgments. As a segment of a long historical work, this volume suits readers already following the series rather than beginners. Its value lies in the detailed layers of sixteenth-century Low Countries diplomacy and warfare, and in revealing how nineteenth-century English-language historiography framed narratives of national independence. Readers should keep maps and a chronology at hand, or they may lose their bearings among the dense names of people and places. The electronic edition comes from Project Gutenberg as a public-domain text, convenient for searching and cross-referencing. Best suited to readers with some grounding in early modern European history who are willing to read slowly and closely.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have finished earlier volumes of the series and wish to continue
Students of the Dutch War of Independence and sixteenth-century Low Countries political history
Readers interested in the style of nineteenth-century English narrative historiography
Researchers who need a public-domain English source text for textual search or citation

Not a good fit for

Beginners hoping first to grasp the overall arc of the Dutch Republic
Readers who prefer general surveys and would rather not handle dense names of people and places
Readers who need a Chinese translation or modern scholarly annotation
Casual readers looking for a single self-contained volume

Reading tips

Prepare a map of the sixteenth-century Low Countries and a chronology of major events for ready reference.
Review the situation at the end of the previous volume before reading, so as not to lose the threads of persons and factions.
After each chapter, jot down the main events and each figure's stance in a few sentences for later review.
When names become dense, skim the details first and follow the main narrative; save close reading for a second pass.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can this volume be read on its own?

It can, but the experience will suffer. This is a middle volume of a multi-volume history, and its characters and political threads carry over from earlier volumes; starting here can leave you at a loss about factional relationships and the chronological context. It is best to first grasp the basic outline of the Dutch War of Independence, or begin with an earlier volume in the series, before turning to this one.

Is the text in English or Chinese?

This is a public-domain English ebook released by Project Gutenberg; the main text is in English, with no Chinese translation. Reading it requires some ability to read English historical sources, especially given the many sixteenth-century personal names, place names, and political terms; a dictionary and maps are recommended.

What are the characteristics of this book's historiographical stance?

Motley was a nineteenth-century English narrative historian whose writing carries strong moral judgments and a narrative of national independence, with direct praise and blame for his figures. Readers may treat it as a text for understanding how nineteenth-century historiography was written, while remaining mindful of its partisan tendencies; it should not be taken as a neutral, objective modern work of research.

What practical advice is there for reading the electronic edition?

The public-domain electronic text is convenient for full-text search; you can first search key figures and event names to establish the threads before reading through. Using reading software that supports annotation is recommended: mark names of people and places as you go, and keep maps and a chronology open alongside, which will noticeably reduce the loss of orientation while reading.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877 Author

John Lothrop Motley (1814–1877) was an American historian and diplomat, known for his historical works on Dutch independence and the Dutch Revolt. His major work, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, narrates in detail how the Dutch provinces threw off Spanish rule and established a republican government, combining rigorous scholarship with a strong narrative drive. His History of the United Netherlands continues the account of political and military developments from the death of William the Silent to the end of the sixteenth century. The collection here contains 103 of his works, mostly different volumes and editions of these general histories. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted; his works show a respect for primary sources and a talent for portraying major historical turning points, and they have had a lasting influence on the study of Dutch history in the English-speaking world.