Dutch Non-Fiction
This page of New Dutch Non-Fiction presents a selection of books recently published in the Netherlands, books that have been included for their artistic and commercial success.
Our aim is to showcase the best non-fiction from the Netherlands. Most titles will have been published recently and will have done very well in terms of reviews, sales and awards or nominations. Dutch Non-Fiction is distributed to international editors and publishers.
We highly recommend the titles on this page, and would be happy to give further advice on noteworthy and interesting books for your publishing list. For more information please contact acting non-fiction specialist, Leonoor Broeder.
The Discovery of Holland
Each year thousands of tourists flock to the Dutch town of Volendam for its traditional fishing past. Few people know that around the turn of the twentieth century, when only accessible by boat, it was a bustling artist’s colony which inspired the likes of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Ivar Kamke, Elizabeth Nourse, Georg Hering, Marianne Stokes, and even Japan’s Crown Prince Hirohito and the writer Marcel Proust.
Sex in the Renaissance — Intimate Positions in Da Vinci’s Time and What We Can Learn from Them Now
From double standards to appropriate dress: discussions of sexuality are timeless. We may talk about the orgasm gap, consent and gender but even during the Renaissance, people were fascinated by erotic needs. This book takes the reader on a sometimes shocking, always surprising journey to prove once again that history can help us better understand our behaviour today.
Islands of Good and Evil — A Journey of Discovery
The Scottish define an island as a piece of rock with a year’s grazing for a sheep, but however you define it, an island is the world in miniature. It is the ideal place to start a utopian society, a conduit to dreams of perfection, a clearly-defined space, and the prospect of an undisturbed life, away from the flock.
A Scaly Story — In Search Of The Strangest And Most Threatened Animal On Earth
‘Stories are instruments of power, just like maps of a territory. People who colour in the universe with roads and borders, characters and scenes are the creators of culture, and soon afterwards, the guardians of a desired order. Pangolins often arrive on the scene in a story when a community needs to be held together.’
Eyewitnessess to Dutch Slavery — From Passage to Uprising
‘We must guard against the temptation to let colonial sources speak for themselves. We must not allow the wool to be pulled over our eyes by the powerful of yore, but rather try to uncover how things really worked in the past.’
The Future of The Past — Reflections on the Netherlands’ History and Heritage of Slavery
Waldo Heilbron was one of the most important proponents for the decolonisation of the Netherlands’ history of slavery. His pioneering final book remains an essential intervention in the national thinking about colonialism’s ongoing legacy. And while much has changed in the conversation about slavery in the Netherlands and beyond, there remains much work to be done.
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Uprising — The Populist Revolt and Battle for the Soul of the West
In recent years the far-right’s growing mainstream acceptance has come to feel unstoppable. On a platform of identity, family, nationalism and anti-immigration, populist parties have seen electoral wins throughout the West. Underlying their valorisation of what is ‘natural’ and ‘realistic’, however, is a broader counterrevolutionary movement against the left-liberal globalist elite and what is perceived as the undermining of Western identity.
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When Humans Stray — Seven Animals Bite Back
For 400 years, European seafarers attempted to sail over the top of the globe for a shorter trading route. The famous polar explorer William Barentsz, who lent his name to the Barents Sea, died a hero, after becoming stranded in Novaya Zemlya in northern Russia. Today, however, he would have been able to complete his route in the summer.
Listening Practice
Initially, the emancipating power of internet technology was warmly embraced: the marginalised could finally influence political debate, new voices could shake up the dominant world order. But constant scrolling has led to a ‘dizzying swirl of current events’, overstimulation leads to mental shut down. Can we learn to listen again?
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Old Growth — The Fight for Europe’s Wilderness
Central and Eastern Europe are home to the continent’s oldest forests and much of its last true wilderness. There, wild bison, wolves, deer and even bears still roam and families have foraged for mushrooms for generations. But these UNESCO-heritage forests are under increasing threat from logging, fed by our insatiable demand for cheap furniture.
