America's Most Critical Journal since 1999
by Jeffrey Meyers As a college student I’d been traveling alone for a month through Greece, Yugoslavia and Germany, where I didn’t know the languages, and had scarcely spoken to anyone all that time. When I boarded the Rhine River boat in Heidelberg I sa... More »
By Dan Geddes AMSTERDAM – Jan Smit, 44, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), proposed yesterday that Dutch should become the new official language of the EU after Brexit finally takes place next year. “It can’t be German,” said Smit, “for semi-ob... More »
High-Tech Saint Nick Saint Nicholas arrived in Amsterdam, aboard a shiny new ship, looking old as Father Abraham, after his long, tempestuous trip. “To navigate the stormy seas is tough for any old man. I used old maps—no... More »
Review by Dan Geddes See also: The Island at the Center of the World The Dutch Republic The First Salute Russell Shorto’s Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City is such an enjoyable book in part because Shorto cherry-picks the most i... More »
By Dan Geddes Darkness. Rain. Punishing winds. Gray skies. “Oh God, when will it end?” These are some of the words that come to mind when thinking of Dutch winters. September, when the sun still occasionally shines in Holland, is a good moment to prepare y... More »
By Jonathan I. Israel See also: Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City The Island at the Center of the World The First Salute Review by Dan Geddes Although it is now a constitutional monarchy, the Netherlands was once a republic, the first... More »
By Dan Geddes This winter Amsterdam’s canals froze over for the first time since 1997. The ice was deemed safe enough to skate on, and so crowds of people found their ways down to the frozen surface of the canals to skate or just look around. Many people sta... More »
By Dan Geddes 24 March 2012 AMSTERDAM–A recent Dutch law forbids the operation of any of Amsterdam’s world famous cannabis coffeeshops within 300 meters of a school. While many coffeeshops will be forced to close, one Amsterdam principal has responded to t... More »
The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution by Barbara Tuchman Review by Dan Geddes Summary: Barbara Tuchman’s compelling view on the American Revolution highlights the key role played by The Netherlands in the struggle, first as arms merchant vi... More »
The Island at the Centre of the World: The Untold Story of the Founding of New York by Russell Shorto Review by Dan Geddes Historians have often treated the establishment of New Amsterdam by the Dutch as a footnote to the history of the United States. The Brit... More »
by Dan Geddes Like many Amsterdam residents, my family does not have a back garden, and so during warm summer days, when we wish to be outdoors, we head to the Westerpark, only a few minutes away by bicycle. The Westerpark is the smallest of the parks near t... More »
The Career of Hans Donkerzijde, and His Amsterdam Portal Imaginary review by Dan Geddes One of the great what-ifs of Amsterdam “Golden Age” architecture was Hans Donkerzijde’s never-completed portal for the east side of the city. Donkerzijde (1613 –... More »