The First Modern Economy

A comprehensive economic history of The Netherlands during its rise to European economic leadership, which argues that this was the first modern economy. This position is defended with detailed analyses of the major economic sectors and investigations into social structure and macro-economic performance. Dutch economic history is placed in its European and world context. Inter-continental and colonial trade are discussed fully. Special emphasis is placed on the environmental context and demographic developments.
A comprehensive economic history of the Netherlands, the first truly modern economy, during its rise to European economic leadership.
"...this monumental work shows how useful economic history, when properly integrated with social and political history, can be comprehending how the world functioned in the past." Richard W. Unger, Journal of Modern History
"In this impressive volume, de Vries and van der Woude have given English-speaking scholars what is sure to be the definitive account of the early modern Dutch economy for years to come." Anne E. C. McCants, Jrnl of Interdisciplinary History
"This book represents an integration of many schools of thought, of academic disciplines, and of a vast body of material into a coherent whole." N.J.G. Pounds, American Historical Review
"This excellent book on the Dutch economy in the period, published first in Dutch (in 1995) and now available in English in a somewhat revised version, can be considered to be high point in this re-evaluation of the period before 1800. ...the book will certainly become a classic, one which will dominate the historiography of Dutch economic history for a long time to come." Jan Luiten van Zanden, The International History Review
"This book presents an intellectually ambitious argument with admirable clarity, the many separate pieces well worked out individually, and well integrated into the larger picture. There are now a number of books on the early modern Dutch economy, ...but none to compare with this one in its broad sweep and the internal coherence of its basic argument. It must be the starting point for all subsequent discussion." James D. Tracy, Sixteenth Century Journal