Guus Bosman

When we visited the Amsterdam Historical Museum last year I bought De Geschiedenis van de VOC. This book by Femme Gaastra deals with history of the VOC, the Dutch East India Company.

The book was a bit of a disappointment. There were certainly interesting parts, but over-all it was pretty boring. It was really more of an academic book where the author was agreeing or disagreeing with other authors on the subject. Interesting for academics in the field, I'm sure, but the book would have benefited from a more thorough introduction to the various topics and a stronger story line. The way the chapters are ordered is not very coherent, adding to the confusion.

One of the more interesting points was to read about the organization of the VOC; how the headquarters in the Netherlands were in charge but the bureaucracies in Asia such as Batavia had their own priorities and the long communication lines created various challenges.

One excellent point of the book: the author's choice of paintings and original artifacts is great, and the print quality of the book was very good. I realize now that I'd love to visit the Scheepvaartsmuseum in Amsterdam once again to see many of these items in real life.