Why the Dutch are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands Kindle Edition

4.5 stars. I started reading Why the Dutch are Different a while ago and have just finished it now. At first I wasn't sure whether it was memoir, history, social comment or what it was, but actually it's a mixture of all three.Ben Coates is a young Englishman who was formerly in the hectic political world of the UK. As a speech writer and lobbyist, I am sure he must have been used to viewing the world through a critical lens. This book is a reflection of his ability to stand back and look at the Netherlands without any rose-tinted glasses on, something I think I would find hard to do myself as I tend to want to focus on the positive aspects of life wherever I have lived it, and of course I've lived in the Netherlands for nearly seventeen years.First and foremost, let me say Ben Coates is an exceptionally good writer. His flexible use of English in his keen perceptions on the Dutch, their history and their customs is perfect and I often stopped reading simply to admire a sentence or phrase that seemed particularly apt or succinct. There were, however, quite large sections of the book I felt tempted to skim over. For those who don't know much European, and specifically Dutch, history, this book gives a kind of potted summary of many of the important periods in the country's past. For these people, it will probably be useful; for myself, I could have done without quite so much straying into the activities of the VOC (the East India Company), King William's exploits into England and the history of the Spanish and French domination of the Netherlands. This was all background I studied at school and university and unfortunately, it didn't really strike me as anything more than just reeling off the facts; nor did it seem to have much to do with why the Dutch are different now, other than setting the historical background for the country's great reputation as a trading nation that supported the arts in its Golden Age. On the plus side, I learnt a lot of fascinating little gems, such as why the city of Breda got its name (the breede Ee, meaning the wide river Ee) and other such titbits. I found myself frequently asking my Dutch partner 'Did you know this?' and often he didn't, so for all those interesting snippets, I was very grateful.Strangely enough, I enjoyed the section on the Dutch obsession with football. I'm not a football fan at all, but the fanatical devotion the Dutch have to soccer is a curious phenomenon in this country and I found the accounts he gave of the teams, the key players and managers and both the national adoration and criticism that the Dutch have for their footballers really entertaining. However, most of all, I enjoyed the later chapters where he writes about how the intrinsic Dutch culture of 'anything goes' has been tested in recent years by what opening borders and increased immigration have meant to the Netherlands. He writes lucidly and honestly about how this has affected the traditionally relaxed attitude Dutch have had to drug use, prostitution, homosexuality, euthanasia and immigration.All this quite intense discussion is set against the background of Ben Coates' own experience as he travelled around the Netherlands during his early years in the country and while he makes few personal judgements until quite close to the end of the book, he tells things like they are. I must say I quite often wondered if he even liked it at all; that was until I reached the final chapter, when I realised that he, like me, appreciates how much our easy, breezy self-confident and optimistic Dutch hosts have to offer. He also shows how fond we can become of these smiling, but direct people who fully espouse their 'philosophy of a flat country'. As I said at the beginning, this book is part memoir, part history lesson and part editorial. Overall, it is a really good read and I learnt a lot from it and I am now looking forward to reading his new book about the Rhine, which is apparently due out soon.

Had a lighthearted armchair trip to the Netherlands with Ben Coates during Covid Christmas 2020. His writing style suits me perfectly: witty, insightful, down-to-earth. There’s enough history and geography to help an American reader connect the dots (make sense of the scattered bits and pieces of Dutch facts and stereotypes we know about) without bogging down in excess detail. His Englishman’s observations about Dutch personality traits, values, and interactions with foreigners had me laughing out loud. Fascinating to learn of the similarities in the way immigration issues there resemble what we struggle with here. In both countries hate and tolerance vie for dominance, with hate nosing forward in disturbing ways. He’s an astute observer of Dutch life and is candid about how his own political views evolved over years, the result of living and traveling among the Dutch. He does so without taking sides in an offensive manner. I came away admiring the Dutch greatly for their creativity, innovation, and openness, while recognizing their oppressive colonial history. After reading Why the Dutch are Different, I am more determined than ever to spend an immersive vacation in the Netherlands as soon as it is again safe to travel.

After working with Dutch customers and colleagues, I’ve been intrigued for quite some time about life in the Netherlands, potentially as new host country for my German wife and me (non-EU citizen). I got this book after having read “In the City of Bikes: the Story of the Amsterdam Cyvlist” by Pete Jordan (also recommended if interested in learning about the Dutch’s love for their bikes as a mode of transportation).Ben Coates did a very good job in his book to give us the highlights of the Netherlands from an expat perspective. I enjoyed learning about the Golden Age of the Dutch empire, the impact of the German invasion & the second WW (particularly important for my wife!), multiculturalism, and the current social challenges (not seen from the scope of the atrocious News and Media in the US).I’ve had fun already sharing/confirming Ben’s learnings with my Dutch friends (particularly their views about the Belgians).I look forward to read the Rhine as soon as it is available in Amazon.

Ben Coates uses the English language in an astonishing way. When I read his book, it was if I had seen English used the most beautiful way possible. Every sentence tells a complete description of what he sees, hears and even smells on his journey. It is a thought provoking book with excellent history of the peoples called "Dutch". I belong to a beginning writers' group and bought two copies to share so they could see how an amazing man uses the English language.

In planning a trip to Holland, I wanted to read something that would offer "slice of life" insights rather than the "just the facts ma'am" info of typical travel books or general histories. I couldn't have found a better book. The author alternates between historical information and daily-living anecdotes. As an ex-pat he has enough critical distance to provide insight for the outsider, but enough of an obvious love for the Dutch to make his description winsome. As a person whose mind has been jumbled by Google and all its distractions, I nonetheless finished this book in several days. A new record for me, but even more so a tribute to the author's ability to be informative and funny at the same time. Cheers mate!

I am an 87-year-old and was interested in this book as my son and his family have recently emigrated to the Netherlands and I want to absorb as much as possible about the Dutch and their lifestyle. I have spent a long weekend and a full week there and I found that Ben has recorded a very true picture of what the life and the people are like. I can recommend this book to anyone of any age who wants to find out more about the lovely friendly people who live in the Netherlands. I look forward to more visits there, I felt so welcome everywhere. I have read a few books and articles by other authors but Ben has represented the facts and the background most faithfully. The Dutch ARE different.

Having visited more than 80 countries, many of them several times and several of them many times, outside of England the two I felt most comfortable in and the two whose people I feel most comfortable with were, first, Denmark and the Danes and, second, the Netherlands and the Dutch, which is why I was attracted to this book (also, it was on offer at a very good price).This is a very well written, very balanced, very easily accessible and very digestible but comprehensive presentation of the history and development of the Netherlands and its people, the current state of its society and the issues now confronting it, all of it in a light, generally humorous style, with a few good jokes and anecdotes along the way.There is, however, one matter on which I take great issue with the author, Dutch cuisine, about which he is quite dismissive; back in the day, when I was on my way to Amsterdam, I used to aim to arrive at the Amstel Inter-Conti hotel between 15.00 and 16.00, to have the delight of sitting on the terrace with a beer and a dish of bitterbollen (bitterballen?) and mustard - HEAVEN!; other than that, there is erwtensoep, white asparagus, hotchpotch, grey shrimps and loads more.This book has filled in so many gaps in my knowledge, for instance: I was well aware that the Low Countries were a colony or whatever of Spain for quite a while (particularly as one of my favourite spots in Antwerp [yes, I know Antwerp is in Belgium but it was all part of the same kingdom back then] was the Elfde Gebod, round the back of the cathedral, where the Spanish troops used to congregate for a few bevvies, before going out for a night of raping and pillaging) but I never understood why the Spanish would bother to invade what was then a big peat bog; now I know that it was a sort of reverse, reverse takeover; plus so much more.Sometimes, I feel that my reviews, with so many four and five stars, may be skewed but this is because I generally rely on the other reviews on Amazon before buying a book; I discount the ones where there are a handful of only five star reviews (normally by the authors wife, children, mother father, granny, next door neighbour, etc) and go straight to the one and two star reviews.In this case, there is really only one big negative review, by Sarah, and I almost avoided the book because of it but, on looking further, I saw that it was almost a complete outlier; it is based on three accusations, sexism, racism and perversion of the experience of Dutch Jews under Nazi occupation.The last is based on fact and, regardless of how Sarah wants to reinterpret history, fact is fact and the comparison between the experience of Dutch Jews and Danish Jews is fact.The second is based on "....in which he writes that he unfortunately has come to agree with the obscene general insults (a direct quote was not allowed here) so often directed at people of Moroccan decent living in the Netherlands, and that all the incidences of antisocial behaviour that he lists were 'always [acted out by] someone of Moroccan descent.'". This is presented as a quotation but, having searched the book, the only instance I can find in which the author uses the word "agree" in anything like this context is when he says: "Fundamentally, when it came to multiculturalism, I was inclined to agree that the Dutch had lost their way." Who can disagree with that? Certainly, in the UK, it is now almost universally accepted that we fell into the same trap. Nowhere can I see that the author has referred to "obscene general insults", Twice, the author refers to "antisocial behaviour": first, when he says that: "Living in various cities in Britain, I had become accustomed to a degree of petty crime and antisocial behaviour."; second, when he says that: "....locals were increasingly concerned about the side-effects of growing drug tourism: antisocial behaviour, noise, drunkenness and petty crime."; so, where are the Moroccans?The first is based on the expression "leggy blonde"; the author only uses this expression once and it may well be the case that the lady in question was, first, leggy, and, second, blonde and I, for one, am disgusted if he lied about this.I am reminded of the very old joke about Mary Whitehouse, not the "tits like coconuts" one, the other one: Mary phones the local nick and complains about the activities of the folk in the house over the back from hers, having sexual intercourse in full view, an affront to decency, an aberration, a crime against public order; the plod send a rookie PC around and, having looked out of the window, he says that he cannot see anything wrong; Mary tells him that you have to hang onto the wardrobe, put one foot on the windowsill, the other on the dresser, lean right forward and....Great book, great country, great people - ignore Sarah, read the book, book the trip and enjoy (especially the bitterbollen and the beer).

Having lived in the Netherlands for 3 years in the 70's, and still get "home sick" to be back, I couldn't wait to read this book. We usually make a trip over each year, but it's been impossible this year due to Covid-19. Some of the subjects I read about, I remembered from living there, others were new to me. Some of the places I had visited, some not (but are now on my list). Some people may not like the writing style as it's very conversational, but I liked this. You start a chapter talking about one thing, ramble on to other things, then at the end of the chapter, come back to the original thing. I even enjoyed the chapter on football, which I hate. Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Part national history, part social history, part travelogue. I really enjoyed this book. Some reviews criticise it for being a cut and paste job, one reviewer alleges that it is racist. It is not racist by any stretch of the imagination, just in one small part the authors honest impression of what he experienced. Whatever else, is is the most interesting read I've had for ages.

If I was ever to write an account of may 20+ years as an expat in Poland, I could do a lot worse than follow the structure and style of Ben Coates. He has resided in Holland much less than 20 years but this is maybe an advantage as he has a very fresh take on all that is Dutch, both past and present. By selecting certain locations and then certain periods of Dutch history (although more contemporary than older) he is able to make this a very informative read as well as being able to communicate this views of what he sees as the pluses and minuses of being Dutch. The pluses definitely seem to win and overall it is a very warm portrayal of Dutch life and history.