Quality Non-Fiction from Holland 2008

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.

The first two titles deal with the history of science. In The Recreation of the World Floris Cohen offers a new perspective on the Scientific Revolution. One thing that makes his book so remarkable is that Cohen is in the process of writing an extensive, more academic work on the same subject, directly in English. He decided in the meantime to write this popular version, unanimously praised in the Netherlands, which has so far sold 10,000 copies.

In Dangerous Knowledge Luuc Kooijmans takes a detailed look at the scientists who were decisive in bringing about the Scientific Revolution. He is particularly interested in the conflict between science and religion, and the various ways in which the researchers he examines attempted to resolve it. At the same time Kooijmans paints a fascinating picture of the Republic of Sciences, as seventeenth-century Europe has been called. Dangerous Knowledge stands a good chance of winning the prize for the best Dutch history book of 2008. As De Volkskrant wrote recently: ‘This book contains surprising parallels with the present. It departs in every sense from the course generally taken by history writing these days.’

Secret Parts by Mels van Driel is in many ways the counterpart to The Origin of the World by Jelto Drenth, which featured in the 2002 brochure and has been sold in the UK, Argentina, Hungary, China, Turkey, Korea, Taiwan, Russia and Japan. Secret Parts, which was in fact Drenth’s original inspiration for his book, follows the same humorous approach to produce both an entertaining guide to the male sexual organ and an account of its cultural history.

Govert Schilling has written many books on space exploration for which he was awarded the most important Dutch prize for popular science writing in 2002. His latest book The Hunt for Planet X will be published by Springer US in November 2008. It has been highly praised by astronomers and the media alike.

Three of psychologist Douwe Draaisma’s earlier books were included in our brochures and each has been sold in numerous countries, where they were favourably reviewed and often sold very well. The Nostalgia Factory is central to Draaisma’s oeuvre in that it again looks at memory, but more importantly because of its highly literary style and approach. The Dutch edition has so far sold 50,000 copies.

One of the best known of Dutch authors, although rather more for his fiction, is Cees Nooteboom. In Red Rain he is at the height of his literary powers as he describes long summers at his house on Menorca, his garden, his neighbours, and the postman who is frightened of the dogs. Nooteboom also returns to his earliest travels and his attempts to describe them. Never before has Nooteboom written so personally. See for instance the two sample chapters in English (here).

After eight years Paul Scheffer has finally written his great book, elaborating upon the provocative newspaper article that brought him widespread attention in several European countries in 2000. The Unsettled Land is an ambitious exploration of European and American history, part of a quest for answers to the problems that surround immigration. Dutch sales have already reached 35,000 copies and rights have been sold in Germany and Denmark.

Linda Polman too has come up with a new book after a gap of several years. In many ways With Friends Like These is a sequel to her successful We Did Nothing about UN peace-keeping operations, which has been translated into many languages and fulsomely praised everywhere. This time Polman concentrates on the humanitarian aid industry and once again she highlights dilemmas and spares no one.

The final two titles are biographies, outstanding examples of a genre that is on the rise in the Netherlands. Sjeng Scheyen’s Sergei Diaghilev is based on new documentation from Russian archives and includes many new photographs of the world of Diaghilev, about whom several important exhibitions are being prepared to coincide with the centenary of the founding of Les Ballets Russes in 1909.

Jeroen de Valk has rewritten his ‘classic of modern jazz biography’ about Chet Baker, expanding it to almost twice the length of the 1989 edition, which was translated into English, German and Japanese. The English and German rights are available once more and the new facts that have come to light make translations of this new version a highly attractive prospect.

By Maarten Valken

Information

• More information about these books can be found here.
• During the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair the brochure Quality Non-Fiction from Holland will be available at stand 6.0 B969, where Maarten Valken will be happy to give you more information about these and other non-fiction titles.

Published: September 4, 2008 features | non-fiction