Schama paints a portrait of the Dutch nation at the point of its collapse, as grandeur sinks towards catastrophe - an incapable ruler, chaos in government, fami... » 

Schama paints a portrait of the Dutch nation at the point of its collapse, as grandeur sinks towards catastrophe - an incapable ruler, chaos in government, famine and poverty spreading across the land, an army and fleet pathetically inadequate to safeguard the Republic's independence. «