This is the first time I’ve reviewed a book that is only available in Dutch and I’m sorry not all of you are able to read it. This book is actually not new, but rather modernized and updated for the 200th Anniversary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Het Koninklijk Huis der Nederlanden by Arnout van Cruyningen was first published in 1998.
The book begins with the birth of the man who was to become the first King of the Netherlands in 1815. It includes family trees, including one who links William I to his descendants on the thrones of Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg and Belgium. It then leads us all the way to our current King Willem-Alexander. Though I find the history of the kingdom of the Netherlands one of the least interesting (not enough drama?), it is still a good story. The book is well written and is also quite readable for those who are not as immersed in royalty as I perhaps am. My favourite part of the book was a little anecdote about William III, who at the time did not know he would be succeeded by three women, said of the women in his family that they were only ‘les jupons’ (the petticoats), as in they did not really matter.
This book is an excellent read for those wanting to get into the Dutch Royal family. There’s a lot of information about the current royal family, which for me was the least interesting part, but I can imagine they speak more to people’s imagination than perhaps dusty old William I does.
Some more good news for my Dutch readers, I’m also giving away a copy of this book. I will have to limit this giveaway to the Netherlands and Belgium. All you have to do is fill in this Rafflecopter and it will automatically pick a winner in two weeks time!
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