August 2011

It was fascinating to read about the first three Kings of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During most of the 20th century, the Queens have had largely ceremonial roles, but in the 19th century there was a real power struggle between the monarchs and parliament. Ultimately, parliament won and the Netherlands became a constitution monarchy, but the three King Williams fought a hard political battle.

This was interesting book, if a little gossipy. I didn't know much at all about this period in Dutch history; the 19th century was rather boring and generally brought decline compared to the 17th century, so it is not an important part of school curriculums.

Reading the book makes you appreciate why people across Europe revolted against royal rules. There is an incredible amount of scheming and intriguing going on. The descriptions of the private lives of the monarchs were less interesting but it was fascinating to see the politics around and in royal families worked.

This book was a present by Harm and Marijke. I read it during the time that we were moving from Durham back to DC.

This books describes the daily life of a family in Cuba. Yoani started an (illegal) blog, and become world-famous with it. The book collects her stories from 2007 through 2010.

I didn't know much about daily life in Cuba, and this is an eye opener. Incredible, to read about a communist failed state that still exists. I have heard a lot about how life was in Bulgaria before 1989, and it's amazing to read this book. It's no wonder the Cuban authorities are unhappy about this blogs and others like it. The endless list of damning details about people suffering from a lack of basic everyday items speaks very strongly to how the regime in Havanna is totally failing its people.

The book has amazing details. How people, when hearing Castro speak on TV, remembering only one thing: the promise that every Cuban can get a glass of milk whenever he wants to -- and the state TV that cuts to a commercial the moment the replay of that sentence comes on.

English translation of Yoani's blog: http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/

This book is a reprint of the original manuscript of the commander of the ship Batavia, which perished on the cliffs before Australia in 1629. It is a project by the Linschoten-Vereeniging, a society that aims to republish original Dutch-language manuscripts related to (ocean) travel.

It was an interesting book to read. The bloody story of the Batavia was mostly new for me. The book consists of two parts: a thorough introduction and summary of the affair, as well as the transcription of the commander of the ship, Francisco Pelsaert. The latter is kept in the original 17th century Dutch, which took a while to get used to but is ultimately quite readable. The summary in the beginning is very helpful, since the manuscript and other documents are not placed chronologically.

The story of the Batavia is quite sad, and the manuscript is explicit in the bloodiness of the whole business.

Harm and Marijke gave me this book when I visited the Netherlands in 2010.