A vivid narration of the history of the tulip, from its origins on the barren, windswept steppes of central Asia to its place of honor in the lush imperial gardens of Constantinople, to its starring moment as the most coveted—and beautiful—commodity in Europe.In the 1630s, visitors to the prosperous trading cities of the Netherlands couldn’t help but notice that thousands of normally sober, … normally sober, hardworking Dutch citizens were caught up in an extraordinary frenzy of buying and selling. The object of this unprecedented speculation was the tulip, a delicate and exotic Eastern import that had bewitched horticulturists, noblemen, and tavern owners alike. For almost a year rare bulbs changed hands for incredible and ever-increasing sums, until single flowers were being sold for more than the cost of a house. Historians would come to call it tulipomania. It was the first futures market in history, and like so many of the ones that would follow, it crashed spectacularly, plunging speculators and investors into economic ruin and despair. This colorful cast of characters includes Turkish sultans, Yugoslav soldiers, French botanists, and Dutch tavern keepers—all centuries apart historically and worlds apart culturally, but with one thing in common: tulipomania.
more
The type of history that sings and soars while I’m all: I hadn’t a clue they could *do* that stuff back then – and how the heck did we get so *stalled*?
So very much more than a gardening tale, a deep dive into life lived during 1600s and it was pretty dang sophisticated.
Herein one finds the roots (I know) of so many customs, traditions, …
Well written with things I was unaware of and made me think about modern day investments
It was interesting. Filled in some missing pieces in my understanding of Dutch hustory.
According to the cover, Mike Dash’s Tulipomania is “A marvelous parable of greed, skullduggery, opulence, extravagance, and retribution.” I’m not sure I’d go quite that far.
So why was I even reading a book about the seventeenth century Dutch tulip bubble? I read about the bubble in Waves of Prosperity and was sufficiently intrigued. Dash has …
A little more detail at times than I needed , but minutely researched and quite readable
Fascinating the journey of the tulip from wildflower to the most prized of kings and sultans. I’ll never look at my own tulips the same way again!
Great history of the tulip!
I am enjoying reading such an in-depth treatment of this subject … even if I get bogged down in all the detail. How someone can weave so many facts and separate vignettes into a cohesive whole, enjoyable at that, is delightful.
As unbelievable as it seems, this is an historical narrative about the temporary insanity that gripped the Netherlands, ruining families and businesses through a disastrous search for novelty and fortune through the lowly tulip. It does tend to drag a bit with more information than you ever want to know, but it is very readable.
I learned much re the fascinating history of the beautiful tulip.
Cool little history of the tulip and the people who made it a lovely part of spring gardens in the west. Fascinating take on the mania associated with acquiring unusual specimins in Europe’s affluent low countries in the 17th and 18th centuries.
You gotta like crowd manias.