What is Reddit's opinion of The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age?

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Nowadays a bit quaint perhaps but celebrated in its time: The Rise of the Dutch Republic by John Lothrop Motley

AS Wikipedia says his work is somewhat biased:

>Reception in the Netherlands

>The reception of Motley's work in the Netherlands itself was not wholly favorable, especially as Motley described the Dutch struggle for independence in a flattering light, which caused some to argue he was biased against their opponents. Although historians like the orthodox Protestant Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (whom Motley extensively quotes in his work) viewed him very favorably, the eminent liberal Dutch historian Robert Fruin (who was inspired by Motley to do some of his own best work, and who had reported already in 1856 in The Westminster Review Motley's edition on the Rise of the Dutch Republic) was critical of Motley's tendency to make up "facts" if they made for a good story. Though he admired Motley's gifts as an author, and stated that he continued to hold the work as a whole in high regard, he stressed it still required "addition and correction".[1]

>The humanist historian Johannes van Vloten was very critical, and responded to Fruin in 1860: "I agree less with your too favorable judgement....We cannot build on Motley['s foundation]; for that—apart from the little he copied from Groen's Archives and Gachard's Correspondences—for that his views are generally too obsolete." Although appreciating his efforts to make Dutch history known among an English-speaking audience, Van Vloten argues that Motley's lack of knowledge of the Dutch language prevented him from sharing the latest insights of the Dutch historiographers, and made him vulnerable to bias in favor of Protestants and against Catholics.[1]

On gutenberg you can download the ebook for free https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1583?sort_order=release_date

Also interesting is Simon Schama who wrote on similar periods in Dutch history

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age for instance.

Dutch historians are not always translated but well known is Huizinga's Waning of the Middle Ages, the Internet archive has some on loan: https://archive.org/search.php?query=huizinga%2C+johan