This book by David Onnekink and Gijs Rommelse sets out to give an introduction to early modern Dutch foreign policy. It is an accessible narrative of the history of the Dutch Republic placed in a wider international context. As a textbook, it has the merit of combining the Dutch, European and global scopes in the analysis. These different levels of analysis remain divided into chapters, however, and few connections are made between them. The book is largely based on secondary literature, yet that is not an issue since its aim is to provide a general overview of the history of the Dutch Republic in the early modern world. To achieve this goal, the work is divided into six chronological chapters from 1579 until 1795, each examining similar themes, such as Dutch history or European international relations. While a chronological division has the advantage of highlighting the evolution of each of these themes, it can also generate repetitions and render the narrative a little descriptive.

The authors take up the challenge of studying in parallel a wide array of topics and geographical contexts. The effort of bridging different historiographies, usually studied in isolation, should be commended in this case. As is expected in such an endeavour, some themes are more thoroughly discussed than others. For instance, the sections on the international dynamics in Europe and European diplomacy are strong. The authors demonstrate the highly personalized character of diplomacy in early modern Europe and the importance of individual social networks. Additionally, careful attention is given to identity formation and self-perception of the Dutch Republic throughout the chapters. The authors also show the non-national aspects of events shaping the Dutch Republic, such as the Dutch Revolt. Drawing from a wide range of artworks, the authors propose an object-based introduction to each chapter, which provides an original and tangible entry point into the Dutch Republic’s history.

However, less attention is paid to the sections devoted to Dutch presence outside of Europe in each chapter. While the focus at the global level is understandably on the main Dutch colonies of Surinam and Indonesia, the narrative could have been less descriptive and engaged more with recent historiography. There is for instance very little about overseas diplomacy and the cultural brokers involved. The use of New Diplomatic History for the European context is laudable but could have been applied to the non-European context as well, as new literature has been produced in the last years on the topic. Nevertheless, an interesting analysis on religion or culture does bring to the fore other contexts, such as Elmina on the West African coast. The parts of the chapters dedicated to Dutch foreign policy in a global context are at times disconnected from the rest. It is unfortunate that the illustration chosen for the front cover of the book (Hooghly, a Dutch trading post in Bengal), is not mentioned in the book, as it would have been an interesting case to develop in a narrative centered on foreign Dutch policy.

Overall, the book provides a comprehensible overview of the place of the Dutch Republic in the early modern world, although the links to the non-European contexts are somewhat superficial at times. It is a good and manageable first introduction to the political and diplomatic history of the Dutch Republic.