A ‘lively book about mathematics’ opens our selection of recent notable non-fiction from the Netherlands. With enthusiasm and humour, young first-time writer Vincent van Noort tells of his passion for numbers and his personal connection with them, and explains why he believes that we all have such a connection. He convincingly demonstrates the beauty of mathematics.
On 28 and 29 January, in the Rode Hoed in Amsterdam, the eighth International Non-Fiction Conference took place, with ‘Quality Non-Fiction in the Digital Era’ as its theme. At this stimulating and fruitful gathering, organized by the Dutch Foundation for Literature to give publishers, authors and translators perspectives on the near future, it became obvious that digital developments will bring important changes for non-fiction.
This year’s selection opens with a book that is impressive in every sense, telling a great story that places the birth and development of the European Union in the context of the political history of Europe. Luuk van Middelaar was one of the Netherlands’ most promising philosophers when he made his debut ten years ago with Politicide (see QNF 2000). Since then he has gained direct political experience in Brussels and The Hague and used it to write this standard work.
Specialist expertise in an accessible form: how to present an academic author to a broad audience
For the last two years, the Grote Geschiedenis Prijs (Great History Prize) has been awarded to the year’s best historical book. This year the Prize, a sum of 10,000 Euro, has been conferred upon Gevaarlijke kennis: inzicht in de dagen van Jan Swammerdam (Dangerous knowledge: Insight and fear in the days of Jan Swammerdam) by Luuc Kooijmans.
Dutch quality non-fiction covers a wide field and this year the subjects of the selected books are exceptionally diverse: the Scientific Revolution, the male sexual organ, space exploration, memory and ageing, problems surrounding immigration, the dilemmas of the humanitarian aid industry, and the lives of Sergei Diaghilev and Chet Baker.
Over the past few weeks various British papers have published positive reviews of Ararat, the latest book by Frank Westerman. For example, Iain Finlayson wrote in The Times:
“If any book, so far this year, justifies the value of translation, it is Westerman’s”
Every year, on the occasion of the Leipzig book fair, the Preis zur Europäischen Verständigung (Prize for European Rapprochement) is awarded to an author who has committed himself/herself in the field of literature to improving the dialogue between countries and citizens in Europe. In 2008, the prize will be awarded to Geert Mak for the books on Europe that he has written over the past ten years. The prize consists of a sum of 15,000 euro.
Astronomy journalist Govert Schilling, author of Flash!, is to get his own planetoid: (10986) Govert. The boulder, about six kilometers in diameter, takes 3.32 years to orbit the sun on a path lying between those of Mars and Jupiter. Govert Schilling writes for a number of publications including de Volkskrant.
For Quality Non-Fiction from Holland 2007 ten very different new titles have been selected. The first two deal with Islam, one a historical study and the other an investigation into modern Dutch multi-cultural society. In The Historical Mohammed, of which 7,000 copies have already been sold, Islam specialist Hans Jansen looks primarily at the legendary Mohammed as portrayed in old, unreliable biographies. Jansen wonders how generations of Western experts were able to follow the example of orthodox Muslims in accepting the old Arabic biographies as a reliable source. He argues that this is dangerous, since these biographies are marked by a bloodlust that is contagious even after fourteen centuries. A German edition of The Historical Mohammed will be published by C.H. Beck.
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